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6ad6ro · 3 years ago

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there's a lot of posts about piracy going around rn. so here's mine:

anti-piracy arguments are almost always classist. you shouldn't need to be rich to be happy. we were all born into capitalism. it's not voluntary. many of us don't have parents or other support networks keeping us afloat. poor people still deserve to have nice things. i could care less about keeping a system running smoothly that keeps most people poor and only few people rich.

if you work a shitty, low-paying job, then a simple monthly streaming service fee is YES actually too much to ask. no i don't care if your fav big company loses "potential" money from people who couldn't afford to buy them to begin with.

if there wasn't such a thing as "poverty"? if people could generally AFFORD to go out and easily get the things they want and need? obviously piracy wouldn’t be much of an issue at all. it's always frustrating to hear anti-piracy arguments from people who ignore how CRAZY expensive cost of living has become. again, usually the biggest anti-piracy peeps are either naive rich kids (who have things paid for), rich ppl who STAY rich by keeping things broken like they are, and the poor people they’ve brainwashed into being submissive hosts to their parasitic behavior.

in a world like this, where people are overworked and tired? with very few tangible goals available in their future? people NEED entertainment to stay sane. it's literally a mental health issue. yes, in a way, you NEED that funny show to inspire yourself to keep going. that game you can't afford otherwise? will help you relax after a hard day. don't let some disney mouthpiece tell you shouldn't download lion king if it'd help calm you down, especially when the people running that company could probably afford to have a private zoo in their backyard.

there's ALSO the big issue of control. as companies move further and further into streaming and cloud technologies? ownership has become a huge issue. greedy companies are finding more and more ways to nickel and dime people over long periods of time rather than get a one-time fee. it makes them more money, they don't have to actually GIVE customers anything (copies of data are free to them). and customers are left with nothing to show for it after-the-fact. this means that even though entertainment is being produced way more than the past? i’d argue people have LESS access to the entertainment they want for how much they’re paying. because it’s all temporary.

drm and limited use is becoming a norm. meaning? it's harder and harder for people to "own" their favorite things even if they COULD afford it. your favorite movie might simply cease to exist in 20 years. your favorite game might become nothing but a fragmented memory.

"piracy" solves this. backups. ownership. it takes control away from companies who abused that power. and puts it back in your hands. when nintendo stopped making their back catalogue available? and went around shutting down all the emulation sites? i was thankfully in the clear. because i download and archived many of my favorite things. in many cases i own cartridges of my favorite games already? but those can break, or in my case, get caught in a flood. but due to piracy, i can still play "mario 64" to pull myself away from suicidal thoughts. and i'm not limited by nintendo randomly deciding to remove it from the switch store and take the cartridges off of store shelves? in order to drive up their yearly profit via copycatting the methods used for the "disney vault" scam (look it up).

i am someone who tends to enjoy things from other countries. but it can be INCREDIBLY restrictive to try to go through "official" channels attempting to pay for them. if i want that old, relatively unpopular 80s japanese prog rock album? i'm just stuck. i HAVE to hope someone is sharing it online. but this often applies to new things as well. "licensing" is generally INCREDIBLY stupid, especially when it comes to other regions. do you REALLY want simple licensing issues to stand between you and your potential new favorite anime? and in many cases, the distributors just don't care enough to make the thing available globally. and no, i don't think this should mean we all just "miss out".

one of the biggest issues we are experiencing online at the moment? is one of censorship. governmental censorship, religious censorship, and maybe worst of all? corporate censorship. i'm not talking about "bring back racist imagery" etc (but that DOES play a part). i'm more talking... rewriting history. edits. removal. for example, it shouldn't be left to some corporation to decide whether or not a sex scene in a movie is deemed "too racy" for today's audience. if somebody creates an amazing album, but then commits some awful unrelated act later, that shouldn't mean that album should be made unavailable. in many cases, old media can even TEACH us what NOT to do. we gain nothing by erasing history. and corporations are never doing it to be moral. they're only following required guidelines in order to maximize profit. “fake showings of morality” to keep up appearances and keep all potential buyers buying. piracy can give you the OPTION of access to unedited works, or things that have been removed from circulation.

piracy can negate corporate control and artificial-scarcity. create opportunities for absorbing other culture's art without having to deal with availability issues in your country. it circumvents corporate and governmental censorship. and helps you archive the art that makes your life worth living.

finally... the "but it's stealing and stealing is wrong" argument is invalidated by the fact that, by ANY moral compass? these companies are STEALING from US. constantly. by a LOT. look at the way any big company is run. the way it leeches off of it's customer base. the offshore tax havens... does THAT seem okay to YOU?! if someone went around stealing all the food and locking it up, would you REALLY consider "breaking in" to get some so that u didn't starve as "stealing"? don't pretend that you don't NEED escapism and entertainment to get by. you know that you do.

the only people that piracy COULD hurt? is small, independent artists. who, if you actually listen to them, would rather you send them money directly? or buy merch. etc. because companies usually take SUCH an awful cut that it’s better to find alternate ways of supporting them. if you use reasonable context with what you decide to download and share? it’s fine! like i might buy a depeche mode vinyl or two? or a shirt. or go to a concert. but i’ll pirate that $1000 rare box set. because i just can’t AFFORD that kind of excess. and my income doesn’t dictate how big of a fan i am of their music. as long as you chip in when you can to your favorite creators? it’s actually fine. if i didn’t pirate, i wouldn’t be into 95% of the artists i’m currently into. i’ve spent so much on media that it’s almost embarrassing... my argument might not be entirely black and white? but i can safely say that piracy’s positives GREATLY outweigh it’s negatives. most research done has shown time and time again that it doesn’t really hurt creators. if anything, it’s the way greedy companies REACT to the idea of file sharing that hurts those creators. it really is an argument of big corporations trying to make sure they keep ALL the money. and it has almost nothing to do with art or artist’s rights. so please keep sharing everything. download away. for the sake of your own sanity, and generations down the line. because corporations don’t care about you. they don’t care about artists. and they don’t care about maintaining easy access to the art. they just want money, regardless of the cost to everyone else’s happiness. and if you can afford to PAY for it regularly? you should consider yourself very lucky. so maybe stop shitting all over poor people who unfairly have less access to what you already have. everybody deserves to be happy.

#long

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twentiethcenturymoviesandtv · 4 years ago

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Star Trek: Facets of Filmmaking

As it turns out, before Star Trek was fully realized in the form we know today, the show was originally not going to be about Kirk and the Enterprise at all. In fact, it was going to be about a ship called the S.S. Yorktown, captained by a man named Robert April, on a mission to explore the Milky Way galaxy. The original concept, still named Star Trek and set in the 23rd century, was loosely based on the Horatio Hornblower novels, and took inspiration from The Voyage of the Space Beagle, the Marathon series and the 1956 film Forbidden Planet.

By the year 1964, when this idea began to take shape, Gene Roddenberry, creator of Star Trek was an experienced writer for western television shows, and was well accustomed to (at the time) television’s favorite and most popular genre. By 1964, however, Roddenberry was tired of the shootouts, and wanted to do something different, something with a little more depth to it.

Still, Roddenberry knew what the executives, and the public, was used to. As a result, the first draft of this new Star Trek idea was generalized as a sort of ‘Wagon Train to the Stars’, a formulaic type of show where every episode was a standalone adventure in the continuous exploration of the final frontier: space.

As Roddenberry wrote the draft, a few things changed. Gone was Robert April, replaced by Captain Christopher Pike, who would be portrayed by Jefferey Hunter, and the rest of the crew. The name of the ship changed too, to the more familiar Enterprise. As these changes came about, so too did the true nature of Roddenberry’s dream show: both an adventure story, and a thought-provoking morality tale.

Armed with his script, Roddenberry brought Star Trek to Desilu Productions, (a rather large television production company headed and half-formed by Lucille Ball herself) and met with director of production Herbert F. Solow. Solow saw promise in the concept, and signed a three-year development contract with Roddenberry.

Star Trek moved into the next stage of development. Further drafts were drawn up and the idea that would later become the episode The Cage was revised, until it was shown to CBS as part of the ‘First Look’ deal with Desilu productions. CBS wasn’t impressed with the show, declining to purchase it. They had another ‘space show’ in development that seemed too similar, a show that would become Lost in Space.

However, another company became interested: NBC. In May of 1964, Grant Tinker, the head of the West Coast programming department, commissioned the pilot that would become The Cage (which would later be reworked into the episode The Menagerie). After it was completed, NBC turned it down, claiming that it was ‘too cerebral’, but although this was a mild defeat, Star Trek wasn’t beaten. NBC still showed interest in the concept, and made the highly unusual decision to commission a second pilot: the episode that would become Where No Man Has Gone Before.

With this came quite a few changes.

Christopher Pike was scrapped as a character, as was the vast majority of other cast members. Only the character of Spock, as portrayed by Leonard Nimoy, was kept, and of the other cast members, only Majel Barrett stayed, demoted from playing the second-in-command (scrapped due to the unthinkable notion of a woman Commander) to the ship’s nurse, Christine Chapel. With this new pilot came an onslaught of new, more familiar names and faces: William Shatner as Captain Kirk, Chief Engineer Lieutenant Commander Scott played by James Doohan, and Lieutenant Sulu, (originally a physicist in the first episode, but a helmsman afterwards) played by George Takei.

This pilot passed with flying colors, and with that, NBC added Star Trek to their fall lineup for 1966.

Still, there were changes to be made. In this first pilot, the ship’s doctor was Mark Piper, played by Paul Fix. Dr. Leonard McCoy, played by DeForest Kelley, would join the cast when principal filming for the first season began. Also joining the cast was Nichelle Nichols, playing Lieutenant Uhura, and Grace Lee Whitney as Yeoman Rand. (Whitney would depart halfway through the first season, after being on the receiving end of sexual assault from one of the executives of the show, but would later appear in the film series beginning in the 1970s.)

Besides Where No Man Has Gone Before, NBC ordered 15 episodes to start off the show. The first episode of Star Trek, The Man Trap, aired at 8:30 PM on Thursday, September 8th of 1966 as part of NBC’s ‘sneak preview’ time slot, received with mixed feelings. While some papers and reviewers genuinely liked the new show, (such as The Philadelphia Inquirer and the San Francisco Chronicle) others, such as The Boston Globe and The New York Times didn’t. Variety described the show as ‘an incredible and dreary mess of confusion and complexities’, and predicted that it would fail.

Fighting for position against reruns of previous shows, despite the critics’ warnings, Star Trek won a time slot, and began with decent ratings. However, it didn’t last long. By the end of the first season, Star Trek was sitting at 52nd out of 94 programs.

Star Trek was sinking, fast.

But even then, it wasn’t without its supporters.

The editor of Galaxy Science Fiction, Frederik Pohl, offered up his amazement that Star Trek’s consistency remained good, with no drop in quality after its Tricon winning early episodes. He expressed his fear that the show would be cancelled due to its low ratings, and pleaded with audiences to help save Star Trek, writing letters to prevent its cancellation.

At this time, the only thing that was keeping the show on the air in the first place was the demographics it was reaching. NBC had become interested in the demographics of the shows it was producing in the early 1960s, and by 1967, was using that as part of the decision making as to which shows got dropped.

And something about Star Trek’s demographics interested NBC very much: it had managed to attract ‘quality’ audiences: high income, high educated people (primarily males).

As a result, NBC ordered ten more episodes for the first season, and ordered a second in March of 1967. The network then changed Star Trek’s timeslot, moving it to 8:30 on Friday nights, a timeslot that seemed doomed for failure among the audience that Star Trek had gathered.

The next season, things didn’t seem to be getting any better. It was at this point that the show added on Walter Koenig as Ensign Chekov (as George Takei was working on The Green Berets and was not as available for shooting), although some might have wondered why they would have bothered. The show’s ratings were still dropping. William Shatner, expecting the show to be cancelled, began to prepare for other projects.

Again, the demographics saved the day.

Roddenberry’s initial concept of adventure alongside morality tales intrigued the audiences Star Trek had attracted. The show had values, values that had to be applied to every situation. The show was sincere, and serious in its exploration of issues like racism, war and peace, human rights, technology, class warfare, and imperialism, far different in tone and content than the other chief sci-fi show at the time: Lost in Space. As a result, the show generated a more interested fanbase, perhaps the first true ‘fanbase’ of any franchise in history. In the end, it was they who saved Star Trek.

By the end of the first season, NBC had received well over 29,000 fan letters. During the second season, Roddenberry began a campaign to persuade fans to write in to NBC, to support the show and save the program. Between December of 1967 and March of 1968, NCB had received nearly 116,000 letters from people who did not want to see Star Trek cancelled. Science fiction conventions, magazines, and newspaper columnists encouraged readers to save what was called ‘the best science-fiction show on the air’.

The fans didn’t stop with letters. Over 200 students of the California Institute of Technology marched to NBC’s studio in Burbank to protest the cancellation of Star Trek in January of 1968, carrying signs that said things like ‘Vulcan Power’. They weren’t alone; other groups of students of MIT and Berkeley did the same thing in New York City and San Francisco.

Interestingly, the letters that NBC received were not of the typical ‘fan mail’ quality.

“Much of the mail came from doctors, scientists, teachers, and other professional people, and was for the most part literate–and written on good stationery. And if there is anything a network wants almost as much as a high Nielsen ratings, it is the prestige of a show that appeals to the upper middle class and high-brow audiences.” (Lowry, Cynthia (January 17, 1968). “One Network Goes ‘Unconventional’”. Nashua Telegraph. Associated Press. p. 13)

“The show, according to the 6,000 letters it draws a week (more than any other in television), is watched by scientists, museum curators, psychiatrists, doctors, university professors, and other highbrows. The Smithsonian Institution asked for a print of the show for its archives, the only show so honored.” (Scott, Vernon (February 7, 1968). “Letters Can Save 'Star Trek’”. The Press-Courier. Oxnard, California. United Press International. p. 17.)

After the episode The Omega Glory, on March 1st, 1968, the announcement came:

“And now an announcement of interest to all viewers of Star Trek. We are pleased to tell you that Star Trek will continue to be seen on NBC Television. We know you will be looking forward to seeing the weekly adventure in space on Star Trek.” (“Letters For 'Star Trek’ Hit 114,667”. The Modesto Bee. April 14, 1968. p. 26.)

If this was intended to stop the letter writing campaign, it was a dismal failure. A comparable number of letters came in to NBC following this announcement, full of thanks for renewing the show for the third season.

In March of 1968, NBC moved Star Trek to another time slot: 10:00 PM on Fridays, an even worse shot than before. To make matters worse, it was only being seen by 181 out of 210 of NBC’s affiliates. Roddenberry fought the network to move it to a better time, but he was denied. Exhausted, Roddenberry quit working on production of Star Trek, remaining executive producer in name only. The running of the show went to Fred Freiberger, who was with the show as it stood on its last, shaky, legs.

And it was on its last legs.

Star Trek season three was a dying breath, the death-rattle of a show that was being intentionally destroyed by its own network.

To quote Nichelle Nichols:

“While NBC paid lip service to expanding Star Trek’s audience, it [now] slashed our production budget until it was actually 10% lower than it had been in our first season … This is why in the third season you saw fewer outdoor location shots, for example. Top writers, top guest stars, top anything you needed was harder to come by. Thus, Star Trek’s demise became a self-fulfilling prophecy. And I can assure you, that is exactly as it was meant to be.”

It showed.

While I hesitate to call season three of Star Trek a mess, it is difficult to deny that the show was definitely struggling. Episodes dropped in quality, characters became more exaggerated and less ‘true’. Star Trek stopped filming in January of 1969, and after a total run of 79 episodes, the show was cancelled.

As a newspaper columnist advised:

“You Star Trek fans have fought the “good fight,” but the show has been cancelled and there’s nothing to be done now.”

Rather incongruous with the image of the pop-culture giant we know it as today, wouldn’t you think?

So what happened?

As it turns out, Star Trek had enough episodes (thanks to the third season) to enter syndication. Desilu Productions, which at that point had become Paramount, licensed the syndication rights in order to turn a profit, and reruns of Star Trek began airing in late 1969.

In syndication, Star Trek became a cult classic, finding a larger audience on reruns than it had during its original run. The show, which was airing in the afternoons and early evenings, was attracting a young demographic, and, ironically, Star Trek became known as ‘the show that wouldn’t die’. By 1970, Star Trek was boosting Paramount’s ratings, and becoming extremely popular. In January of 1972, over 3,000 fans attended the first Star Trek convention in New York City, kicking off a previously unheard-of trend of organized fan gatherings where they could buy merchandise, meet cast and crew, and screen episodes of the show. These people, coming to be known as ‘trekkies’, took pride in their knowledge and extreme love for this series, which was becoming renowned for being a smart, heartfelt science fiction show that had been cancelled too early.

17 years after Star Trek was cancelled and started reruns, Star Trek became the most popular syndicated show of all time. By 1987, Paramount was bringing in $1 million per episode, and by 1994, reruns were still airing in over 90% of the United States of America.

The rest is history.

It has been over fifty years since Gene Roddenberry’s vision of a wagon train to the stars first took flight, and it was a hard battle fought to get as far as it did. Never before had a show garnered the support and devoted love from a fanbase, never had it inspired such huge leaps and bounds in television and fandom alike. Never had a television show meant so much to so many, and continued to do so well past its end.

For a show that struggled through a third season, it seems incredible that Star Trek still holds the weight that it does today. The show that wouldn’t die gained new life beyond the grave, still capturing people’s attention decades after it was cancelled, growing to become one of the best known and best loved television shows ever made.

Against all odds, Star Trek lives on, remaining one of the greatest television shows of all time, for very good reason.

Join me for one last article as next time we take one last look at Star Trek in our Final Thoughts. If you have any thoughts, questions, suggestions, recommendations, or just want to say hi, don’t forget to leave an ask! Thank you all so much for reading, and I hope to see you in the next article.

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classyfoxdestiny · 3 years ago

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Inside the Turbulent Origins of the Miami Building Collapse

It was in the middle of summer in 1980 when developers raising a pair of luxury condominium towers in Surfside, Fla., went to town officials with an unusual request: They wanted to add an extra floor to each building.

The application to go higher was almost unheard-of for an ambitious development whose construction was already well underway. The builders had not mentioned the added stories in their original plans. It was not clear how much consideration they had given to how the extra floors would affect the structures overall. And, most galling for town officials, the added penthouses would violate height limits designed to prevent laid-back Surfside from becoming another Miami Beach.

At one point, the town building department issued a terse stop-work order. But records show that in the face of an intense campaign that saw lawyers for the developers threaten lawsuits and argue with officials deep into the night, the opposition folded — and the developers got their way.

Frank Filiberto, who was on the Town Commission at the time, recalled feeling as if the developers regarded him and the other officials as “local yokels.”

“They were bullies,” Mr. Filiberto said. “There was a lot of anger.”

Although there is no indication that the catastrophic collapse of the Champlain Towers South building in June was related to the tacked-on penthouse, the alteration was just one of many contentious parts of a project that was pushed through by aggressive developers at a time when the local government seemed wholly unprepared for a new era of soaring condo projects.

Surfside had only a part-time building inspector, George Desharnais, who worked at the same time for Bal Harbour, Bay Harbor Islands and North Bay Village. Records show that the Surfside building department delegated inspections of the towers back to the Champlain Towers builders, who tapped their own engineer to sign off on construction work. The town manager was unable to resolve the penthouse issue because, just as the issue came before the city, he was arrested on charges — later dismissed — of peeping into the window of a 13-year-old girl and abruptly resigned.

The development team itself had a dubious record. The architect had been disciplined previously for designing a building with a sign structure that later collapsed in a hurricane. The structural engineer had run into trouble on an earlier project, too, when he signed off on a parking garage with steel reinforcement that was later found to be dangerously insufficient.

The early 1980s was a freewheeling period for construction in the Miami area, known at the time for its uneven enforcement of regulations, but the Champlain Towers project stood apart — both for the tumult that occurred on the job site and the brazenness of the developers behind the project.

Investigators with the National Institute of Standards and Technology are still in the early days of examining the building’s collapse, with ongoing examinations of the integrity of the foundations and the strength of the materials used to support the building. The investigation will include a review of how the building was designed and constructed, including the building’s modifications, the agency said on Wednesday.

Troubled pasts

By the late 1970s, Surfside was still a humble corner of South Florida, so popular with Canadian snowbirds looking for a discounted slice of paradise that the town dedicated a week to celebrating the connection. Winners of the festival’s beauty pageant could receive a trip to Canada.

One of the Canadians with an eye on the town was the lead developer of Champlain Towers, Nathan Reiber, who brought a grand vision to reshape Surfside’s waterfront at a time when the town was eager to find new sources of tax revenue to keep taxes low for full-time residents. As Mr. Reiber’s team filed for the first Champlain Towers permits in August 1979 — with no 13th-story penthouses — city officials were struggling with serious inadequacies in the water and sewer systems that had led to a moratorium on new development.

The Champlain Towers developers came up with a plan: They would provide $200,000 toward the needed upgrades — covering half the cost — if they could get to work on construction. The town agreed.

“It was exciting,” said Mitchell Kinzer, who was the mayor at the time. “Here we are, little Surfside, a tiny town getting first-class luxury buildings.”

Mr. Reiber pursued the project even as he was dealing with legal troubles in Canada. A lawyer from Ontario who had ventured into real estate, Mr. Reiber and two partners were accused by Canadian prosecutors of dodging taxes in the 1970s by plundering the proceeds of coin-operated laundry machines in their buildings in a scheme to lessen their taxable income. The prosecutor also accused the group of using the expenses of a fake building project to avoid taxes on some $120,000 in rent payments.

After court proceedings that dragged on for years, Mr. Reiber pleaded guilty to one count of tax evasion in 1996. Family members of Mr. Reiber, who died in 2014, did not respond to messages seeking comment.

Mr. Reiber’s lawyer, Stanley J. Levine, also figured prominently in the development of Champlain Towers, handling corporate work for some of the companies involved.

About a decade earlier, Mr. Levine and a member of the Miami Beach City Council had been charged with soliciting an $8,000 bribe from a woman who wanted a zoning variance to build a 47-unit apartment building, according to news coverage from the time. The charge was later dropped. Mr. Levine died in 1999, and a member of his family could not be reached for comment.

Allegations of influence-peddling also dogged the Champlain Towers project. In early 1980, the developers had made campaign contributions that were significant at the time — $100 to one commissioner, $200 to another. Mayor Kinzer objected, and the developers tried to take the money back.

Rick Aiken, the town manager who later had to step down, said the Champlain Towers builders were constantly pressing the town to move faster on permits.

“They’d call me on the phone, want to take me to lunch so that I would push the commission toward giving them a permit,” Mr. Aiken said. He told them that they needed to follow the rules, he said, adding that he could not recall any instances of the developers engaging in improper activity.

On Nov. 13, 1979, the town approved the overall plans for the project.

‘Grossly inadequate’

As the construction got underway at the Champlain Towers sites, both at their North and South properties, turmoil was emerging and plans were changing.

By May, the project’s lead contractor, Jorge Batievsky, had resigned. He soon filed a lawsuit, though records from the case have since been destroyed and Mr. Batievsky has died.

The developers brought in a new contractor, Alfred Weisbrod, but problems continued.

As the first levels of the South building were rising above the ground, a crane on site collapsed so violently that its steel was contorted, according to archived video. A week later, crews discovered that more than $10,000 in wood had been stolen from the site.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why did Champlain Towers South collapse?

It could take months for investigators to determine precisely why a significant portion of the Surfside, Fla., building collapsed. But there are already some clues about potential reasons for the disaster, including design or construction flaws. Three years before the collapse, a consultant found evidence of “major structural damage” to the concrete slab below the pool deck and “abundant” cracking and crumbling of the columns, beams and walls of the parking garage. Engineers who have visited the wreckage or viewed photos of it say that damaged columns at the building’s base may have less steel reinforcement than was originally planned.

Were residents previously concerned with the building?

Condo boards and homeowners’ associations often struggle to convince residents to pay for needed repairs, and most of Champlain Towers South’s board members resigned in 2019 because of their frustrations. In April, the new board chair wrote to residents that conditions in the building had “gotten significantly worse” in the past several years and that the construction would now cost $15 million instead of $9 million. There had also been complaints from residents that the construction of a massive, Renzo Piano-designed residential tower next door was shaking Champlain Towers South.

Are other buildings in Florida at risk?

What do we know about those who died?

Entire family units died because the collapse happened in the middle of the night, when people were sleeping. The parents and children killed in Unit 802, for example, were Marcus Joseph Guara, 52, a fan of the rock band Kiss and the University of Miami Hurricanes; Anaely Rodriguez, 42, who embraced tango and salsa dancing; Lucia Guara, 11, who found astronomy and outer space fascinating; and Emma Guara, 4, who loved the world of princesses. A floor-by-floor look at the victims shows the extent of the devastation.

Did anyone survive the collapse?

But public anticipation was building. A newspaper ad for the unfinished buildings claimed that only 27 residences remained available. “Get the best — while they last,” it advised.

By the end of the summer, the developers hired a new permanent contractor, Arnold Neckman, and in August they applied to add the new “penthouse” floor to each property, raising the buildings from 12 stories to 13.

The added weight brought by the penthouse had the potential to exacerbate a failure and contribute to the progressive collapse that killed 98 people this year, said Mehrdad Sasani, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at Northeastern University who reviewed the building’s design plans. He also said the decision to add a new floor to the top of a previous design was not an accepted practice.

But the penthouse addition would not explain the cause of the collapse, Dr. Sasani said, since buildings are designed with large safety margins. “The relative weight of the penthouse compared to the weight of the structure is not so significant that it could have been an initial cause,�� Dr. Sasani said.

There is no record of an objection from the architect on the project, William Friedman, or the structural engineer, Sergio Breiterman.

Both had come to the project after some criticism of their past work. State regulators suspended Mr. Friedman’s license for six months in 1967 after an investigation determined that he had designed a “grossly inadequate” sign structure that fell over during Hurricane Betsy two years prior, damaging the structure of a Miami commercial building, according to records from the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation.

About five years before the Champlain Towers project, Mr. Breiterman had been responsible for inspections on a $5 million parking garage in Coral Gables, where officials later found that the walls in the building lacked steel reinforcing rods that would prevent cars from crashing through, according to a 1976 article in The Miami Herald.

Mr. Breiterman also got the job of inspecting work at Champlain Towers. He gave his seal of approval to the work in October 1980, before the penthouse dispute began.

‘A violation of the code’

A month later, in November, the town appeared to approve the added-on penthouse permit, although it is unclear who signed off on the idea. Two weeks later, the police chief, serving as the interim town manager, sent a curt memo ordering the contractors to halt work, revoking their penthouse permits.

The memo, sternly warning that the penthouses were in fact a violation of Surfside’s codes, came on town letterhead, with the name of Mr. Aiken, the town manager who by that time had been arrested on the peeping charge, crossed off with a series of X’s. (The case against him was later dismissed, with Mr. Aiken saying he had been looking for his dog behind people’s homes.)

Then, a week later, the Town Commission voted to allow the penthouses after all.

Mr. Filiberto, the former commissioner, said he believed that some of the penthouse construction was already completed by then. He said the town was left with a tough choice: Grant a variance or order the builder to demolish the penthouse work — and face a lawsuit.

Years later, Mr. Filiberto wondered whether the developers played equally loose with other aspects of the building project. “If they are that overt in violating the height orders,” he said, “think about all the little intricacies that go into building the building.”

Adam Playford and Michael Majchrowicz contributed reporting. Jack Begg and Kitty Bennett contributed research.

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pebblysand · 4 years ago

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[writing rant - on the monetisation of fanfiction]

a couple of months ago, when i updated my long fic, one of the people on the comments wrote to me the nicest possible review (one of the ones that you keep in your feel-good 'saved' emails - you know the ones), which, amongst other things also said: 'If I could pay you for this...believe me, I would.'

in the moment, i kind of smiled and laughed, and thanked the person for their kind words before moving on with my life. yet, since then, i have to admit that this sentence has kind of been living rent-free in my head. i think it is also because since diving back into fandom a few months ago, i've noticed something that kind of shocked me at first: more and more fanfiction writers seem to be monetising (or attempting to monetise) their craft.

now, back when i started writing fanfic, we wrote fanfic on ffnet and livejournal. it was accepted that thou shalt never (ever) charge money for your writing or else the author and their mean, angry lawyers will come after you for damages and you will die a slow and painful death. we wrote disclaimers at the start of all of our posts and thanked the gods every day when we did not get sued.

i have seen this change gradually over the years. first, in the mid 2010s, the disclaimers went. then, i noticed that people were getting 'tipped' for fanart, sometimes even charging commission. from what i understand (though, don't quote me on this, i'm not an ip lawyer and this post is not intended as legal advice), this is because the way the concept of fair use is framed under us law makes it easier to monetise fanart than it does fanfiction. maybe this is why visual artists came first on this trend. later still (and more recently) i've noticed fanfic writers, doing the same thing.

to be fully honest, the first thought i had when i saw this trend, considering the fear of god (and his lawyers) that was instilled in me in the past, was: how on earth is this even possible? (i'll come back to that in a bit). the second, though, was: fuck, i wish i had the guts to do that, lol.

because, yeah, i will admit, the idea of getting paid for writing what i love to write does appeal, to a certain extent. i won't lie. dear fanfiction writers who've tried to do that recently: i one hundred per cent get it.

looking back at the last fifteen years, i would say that for me, writing fanfiction has been (in terms of time commitment and energy consumed) the equivalent of having an on-and-off part time job. a job that i have held for one or two years at a time, then quit for a while, before coming back to it when i needed (wanted) it again. i obviously can't realistically give you a number re:the actual total of hours i have spent at this since i started out, but i can give you an idea. recently, i started clocking my hours out of interest and calculated that a chapter of my current long fic takes roughly between one hundred to two hundred hours to produce (and they're around 10,000 words). at that rate, i'm probably working 20 hours a week-ish? sometimes more, sometimes less? something as small as a three-sentence fic (like this for instance), takes roughly two/three hours. i'll be honest, i have cancelled plans to write fic. when i'm working on a long project, i do tend to organise my life to give myself the time to write, so i opt for socialising after work during the week rather than on weekends, as i've found this is when i write best. i won't lie: it is - for me (i know some people write quicker, bless them) - a huge time suck.

so, yeah, i understand, in the capitalist society we live in, wanting to make that time count. our world has unfortunately, repeatedly taught us that time is money and getting more does seem like a nice bonus (as long as you have an audience for your art that's willing to pay, obviously). after all, year after year, i've seen a lot of my friends try and monetise their passions as side hustles, with varying success. at first, glance, i look at the time i spend on writing fanfiction and think: man, i wish i could get a bit back from that too. i couldn't even draw a stick figure to save my life but i assume that the time commitment and energy put into that kind of work is roughly similar for visual fanartists as well. i thus very much understand the sentiment, both with fanart and fanfiction.

additionally, though i appreciate this is a bit tangential, the fact that fanfiction is free, i would argue, hinders its potential to be as representative as it could be. it's a bit sad because on the one hand, the fact that it is free makes it completely accessible to the masses but on the other, it makes fanfiction quite exclusive to rich, privileged people who can afford to spend the time and energy putting content out for free. if i spend this much time writing fanfiction, just because i like it and it makes me happy, it's because my full time job pays me enough to cover my bills. if it didn't, i probably would have to forgo writing and get a proper side gig. if you look at my periods of inactivity on ao3, those also kind of coincide with the times in my life when i had to have more things going on to put food on the table.

so, now, assuming that monetisation is a thing that, as a fic writer, one might want to look at, the next question is: how do you go about monetising it? obviously, the law hasn't changed since the days where we were all terrified of getting sued (although enforcement has been quite lax over the years) so it's more about finding workarounds around the law as it is, rather than actively seeking payment for fanart.

from what i've seen: two main solutions seem to exist.

first, there's the tipping/buy-me-coffee technique. as i understand it, this involves either setting up a page on one of the dedicated websites or just putting up your paypal account link on your tumblr posts. with these links, people can then send you however much money they want (however much money they can afford/think you deserve?) on a one-off basis. they're not actually paying for fanfic because there is no actual exchange of services, it's basically like them giving money to charity, except that charity is a fanfic writer/ fan artist whose work they enjoy.

there are two main issues i see with this: one, legally, i'm not sure how much ground this actually holds. assuming you're quite prolific/successful, if every time you're producing new content, you receive dozens of tips, although you're not actively charging for your fanart, making the argument that your content isn't what these people are actively paying for seems hard. imo, the fact that this method sort of holds is that realistically, you're going to make very little out of this. even if you're really good, you might make what? a couple hundred dollars. now, sure, that's a lot of money for a lot of people but in the grand scheme of things, no one sues anyone for such a low amount. as long as you're not making 'proper' money from it, it is highly unlikely that anyone would come after you.

this being said, the second issue, from my perspective, is that this is not in any way, shape or form, a reliable income. it also does not represent, at all, the cost of the time and investment actually put into said fanfiction (or fanart, i assume). for example: if you're going to tip someone who's worked on something for, say, fifty hours, ten dollars, that's very good of you, but that isn't going to be 'worth' their time. it is only worth their time if tipping is done at as scale, which imo is quite unlikely considering you're putting your content out for free anyway. there are kind souls who will tip you, but not that many, meaning that ultimately, you're not working for free anymore, but you're still working at a huge loss.

additionally, because this income is not even reliable on a monthly/weekly basis, it isn't something that anyone can actually rely on, even if only to fund their coffee habit. it's nice to have, don't get me wrong, but from my perspective, is the legal risk outlined above worth the trouble for the $20/30 tips i'd get every once in a while - not really. such low amounts also don't help diminish the class issue that i talked about earlier. again, if you're going to spend fifty hours on something, you might as well work a minimum wage job - even that will pay you more and will be dependable.

second, there's patreon (and patreon-like sites). here, the income is monthly, people pledge on a subscription basis, which does solve the last point above. it might not be much, but at least it's regular.

the main issue i see with patreon is that it is contingent on the author providing more services on top of what they already provide. in most cases, the author will keep putting their usual content out for free + provide their patreons (depending on tiers) with more content, specifically for them. this, to me, makes this scheme even less appealing than the previous one because a) if i can't provide fanfic to potential patreons (again, you can't sell fanfic), i'm not sure what on earth i could give them (original content? that's not really the same market) and b) that's even more work on my plate. honestly, considering the amount of time i already spend writing fanfic, i have neither the energy nor the willpower to provide extra content for an amount that, regardless, will probably pay me less than a part-time job would. again, you'd have to scale this (i.e. have enough patreons) to make it all worth your while, and even in very big fandoms, even for someone waaaaay more successful than me, i doubt it would be likely.

lastly, as a side note, both of these "methods" are solely accepted if they occur on tumblr/writer's own website, rather than on the writer's ao3 page/fic. there was a post going around explaining why that is (nutshell: it endangers ao3's status as a non-profit archive) but as with all things, i seem to have lost it. [if you do have the link to that post/know what i'm talking about, hit me up and i'll rectify this]. this, regardless, supposes driving traffic from wherever you post your fics towards tumblr/your own website which, again, decreases your chances of scaling this.

so, in the end, where does that leave us?

i think, at this point, we've kind of reached a crossroad. ultimately, i see two ways to look at this:

option one: if you believe that fanfiction writers should be paid for their art, you also probably agree that the methods outlined above, while they do offer some sort of solution, are less than ideal. the ideal solution (for this option) would obviously be to allow fanfiction authors to be properly paid for the publication of their work through 'normal' publishing/self-publishing deals, without the need for a licence from the author (bar - perhaps - the payment of royalties). that would create a proper 'market' for fanfiction, treating it as any other form of writing/art form. it would mean a complete overhaul of the laws currently in place, but why not? ultimately, in a democracy, laws are meant to be changeable.

this being said, though, while my personal knee jerk reaction would be to shout 'hurray!' at this solution, i do not actually think i want this. or, maybe, only part of me does. the part of me who has been writing fanfiction for free for fifteen years is like 'hey, yay, maybe i could get paid!'. but then, there is another part of me that would like, maybe, one day, to write more original fiction (i already do a bit, but not much). that part of me is feels frankly a bit icky about giving up her ip rights.

would i be comfortable with people writing fanfiction of my original work? hell yes. that would be the dream. imagine having your own ao3 fandom, omg. however, would i be comfortable with people profiting from writing fanfiction of my work? honestly, i'm not sure. to me, the answer to that is: it depends (how much time investment was put in? how original the concept is? etc.) which, in fact, kind of brings us back to the current concept of licensing. and yes, maybe the current frame imposed by copyright law has also shaped the way i view the concept of property, and maybe i should be more of a communist, free-for-all kind of person, but unfortunately, i'm not that revolutionary.

also, and slightly tangentially, i find it interesting how profiting from fanficition/fanart is seen as more acceptable i certain fandoms rather than in others. taking the hp fandom for instance, even prior to jkr expressing her views on transgender rights, i often read things like: 'ah, she's so rich anyway, she doesn't need the money.' now, that argument has not only gained traction but is also reinforced by: 'ah, she's the devil and i don't want to fund her. it'd rather give my money to fanfic authors/buy things on etsy.'

while i completely understand the sentiment and do not, in any way, shape or form, support jkr's views, i do find that argument quite problematic. if you set the precedent that because someone is too rich, or because they've expressed views you disagree with, you don't believe that they should be entitled to their own intellectual property rights, i do wonder: where does this stop? this being justified for jkr could lead to all sorts of small artists seeing other people stealing/profiting from their original work without authorisation. 'i don't pay you 'cause i disagree with you,' would then act as a justification, with i find highly unfair. the fact of the matter is: jkr created hp. knowing that, the choice of buying hp products, regardless of her opinions is completely and entirely yours, but buying the same stuff unlicensed, from people who are infringing on her copyrights seems, to me, very problematic as this could potentially be scaled to all artists. either we overhaul the entire copyright system or we don't, but making special cases is dangerous, in my humble opinion.

option two: we choose to preserve copyright law as it is, for the reasons outlined above. this means that most people will not get paid for the content they put out and that the few that do will operate on a very tight, legal rope, and work for tips that are a 'nice bonus' but not a proper pay. this sort of perpetuates the idea that fanfiction is 'less than' other art forms, because in our capitalist society, things that don't generate money (things often made by women, may i add) are not seen as being as valuable as things that do.

for me, personally, while getting paid to write fanfiction sounds lovely (and makes my bank account purr) in theory, i think i side to preserve the current system. as an artist, i think that intellectual property protects us and our concepts from being ripped off by others, including by big companies who might find it handy to steal a design, a quote, anything, without proper remuneration. this is even more important for smaller artists who wouldn't necessarily have the means to defend their craft otherwise.

this being said, i do appreciate that it depends on why you're writing fanfiction. i think that topic probably deserves a whole different post in its own right but ultimately, most people write fanfic because it's fun. we know it's for fun, and not for profit. and if that's the case, then we're okay to receive compliments, reblogs and sometimes, for some people a little bit of an awkward tip for our work. for me, fanfic has been a space to make friends, to get feedback, to learn and to experiment without the pressure of money being involved. that's why i don't particularly mind doing it for free, and wouldn't even bother setting up a patreon or tip-me jar. i love being able to do it just for the enjoyment of myself and my five followers (lol), without worrying about scaling it, or making it profitable. not every part of our lives, not every passion has to be profitable. as we say in ireland, you do it 'for the craic' and nothing else.

this, though, as i already said, also depends on your means and level of privilege. to me, writing for free is fantastic and a bloody relief - it means being able to do exactly what i want. original fiction writing is full of rules, and editors, and publishers. in fanfic, i can write whatever i feel like, and i'm willing to forgo a salary in exchange of that freedom. again, i have a full time job that covers my bills. this does mean, though, that i don't have as much time to dedicate to writing as i would like to.

and also, the thing is: i'm a small author. i happily write in my own little niche. bar that one comment, it is highly unlikely that anyone would actually want to pay me (or even tip me) for my content. but when you look at very successful people, like the author of all the young dudes, i could see how they'd want to get paid for their art, and why they'd feel differently.

bottom line for me is: the flaws of the current systems of remuneration combined with my strong belief in copyright law as a means to protect small, original creators, means that i don't really think it would be right for me to get paid for fanfic, even if i was the kind of person who had the market for it. whilst it would be nice, this very long rant has, hopefully, explained why.

#fanfiction #writing #archive of our own #monetisation of fanfiction #fanfiction theory #this post is waaaay too long and the author regrets everything #pebblysand rants

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greyias · 5 years ago

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FIC: Smoke and Mirrors - Chapter 16

Title: Smoke and Mirrors Fandom: SWTOR Pairing: Theron Shan/f!Jedi Knight Rating: T Genre: Pre-Relationship, Slow Burn Synopsis: Something’s rotten on Carrick Station, and Theron won’t rest until he finds out what. But picking at the frayed threads of suspicion quickly unravels a conspiracy much larger than even the Republic’s top spy can handle on his own. (A mostly canon-compliant retelling of the Forged Alliances storyline, as seen through the eyes of Theron Shan.) Author’s Notes and Spoilers: See Chapter 1.

Chapter Index: 01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | 06 | 07 | 08 | 09 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | Crossposted to AO3

As far as targets went, Rian Darok was proving to be an exceptionally dull one. The contents of his schedule turned out to be incredibly mundane, as it just consisted of meetings with other SpecOps officers. Once he returned to Coruscant, there had been a brief hope that would uncover the proverbial smoking blaster. However, it seemed to lead to just more meetings, and an interminable amount of time spent in front of a data terminal searching for nothing of interest whatsoever.

The low-profile made sense, though. If Darok had a hand in what happened with Tython, that kind of thing would have taken a lot of time to plan out. Theron had tried scrubbing through the man’s personnel files on his breaks, but it was spotless. There was zero indication that Darok was anything but a loyal citizen of the Republic, and had no reason to collude with the Empire. In fact, he probably had more reason than most soldiers to hold a grudge. In fact, according to his personnel record, he probably had more reason than most soldiers to hold a grudge. He was the sole survivor of an Imperial attack on the Dorin’s Sky while it had been serving in the Nanth’ri System...

The location gave Theron pause, and he stared at Darok’s file. The galaxy was a big place, and seasoned veterans would have served all over the map, but that particular system was familiar. Wasn’t that the same system where Revan had fallen to an Imperial strike team? That same funny feeling that had been haunting him since this whole thing had started crept up again, starting at the base of his spine and slowly crawling its way up, until every hair on the back of his neck stood on end. It was circumstantial at best but… it was odd how connections to Revan kept popping up. First with Jensyn, and now Darok.

If he didn’t know better, he’d almost suspect they had some little secret club. Of course, that didn’t make much sense. Revan was dead, and all of these connections were just… coincidence. Funny. The timing of the attacks on Tython and Korriban were supposed to be coincidences too.

He glared at Darok’s file, but it didn’t yield any further insights or secrets.

The Tython investigation was beginning to wrap up, and Trant had begun to redirect resources. The Analytics Division was moving on from post-mortem reports to dig into the data that Theron had managed to extract from Korriban during the strike team’s raid. Of course, that wasn’t sitting well with Theron either. His data was clean, he knew that, but the intel that had started all of this mess, the one that they’d raided Korriban for had yet to be turned over to the SIS yet.

The last time Theron had asked the Director about it, the face that Marcus had made would have been almost comical. Almost, because a lot of people had died for that data, and now it was apparently lost in some military bureaucracy. Theron considered calling in a favor from dear old dad, see if maybe he could grease the wheels. But that might call too much attention to the fact that Theron was very interested in the origins of all of this.

So unless he wanted to try and involve more people in his crazy conspiracy chase, it was best that he not attract to much attention. He still hadn’t found any proof yet to sound an alarm, just a bunch of odd coincidences and interesting pieces of trivia with nothing to connect them all together. He stared at the terminal in front of him, absently tapping his finger on the keys.

Highwind had reported that Darok, or some men under his direction, had been unusually interested in the Jedi’s library. Theron pulled up the official investigation into the Tython attack. He tried to scan through the findings, but only found reports on destruction, compromised terminals, and some missing artifacts.

With a glance to his surroundings, he slipped out the private datapad he’d been conducting his own personal investigation on, and did a quick check on the current whereabouts of The Defender. It appeared that she’d been called back into duty to help mediate a dispute of succession for House Barnaba in the Tapani sector. He tapped the bezel of the datapad, wondering if it was too soon to say anything, considering he hadn’t uncovered anything yet. The nagging thought about the Archives wouldn’t leave him, so he pulled up his empty inbox, and began to compose a message:

To: Greyias Highwind From: Theron Shan Subject: Nothing Noteworthy Yet

I wish I could say I’ve found something, but it’s been a slow two weeks since I last wrote. The life of a SpecOps commander is apparently very mundane most of the time, filled with meetings, meetings, and more meetings. And when not meeting, apparently they’re in front of a terminal cruising the HoloNet. I’d say your taxes at work, but you don’t really take a salary do you? Still, you get that fancy ship, so I guess that’s something.

I’ve been knee deep in this investigation on Tython. There’s a lot of data on damage inflicted, suggestions for beefing up security, how security failed, and what was taken. It’s a lot, is what I’m saying, and I’m still sorting through it. I keep thinking about our mutual friend and the library though, and what might have been so interesting there. Just trying to find some correlation between that and what we’ve gotten from Korriban.

Just to keep busy mind you, since our buddy is boring me keeping such a low profile. You ever hear anything interesting about that before your trip to Barnaba?

He stared at the letter for a few moments, recalling the previous communication he’d received, and added one last bit:

I also feel the need to let you know that as vast as they are, the SIS databases aren’t all-knowing. There’s a lot of entries on famous pieces of jewelry around the galaxy, but nothing about this bracelet you keep bringing up. Still want me to keep looking?

Satisfied, he sent off the letter, and stowed the datapad away for now. He’d have to wait for answers, and in the meantime, had to close out the official report on Tython.

When he’d mentioned that the intel side of his job was boring, he wasn’t kidding. There was a lot of snooping, and occasionally some fast-paced running, but there was a lot of waiting that wound up happening between discoveries. The first one came in via official channels, an intel request from Darok on "Isotope-5 Proliferations and Deployment in the Empire". Theron was pretty familiar with the contents of that already, and it made perfect sense for the colonel to be requesting it considering the devastation wreaked by the Iso-5 bombs on Tython.

The second one came to him as he was getting himself another cup of caf from the community carafe, although the sudden arm flung around his shoulders made him nearly spill his drink. Theron at first thought he was being assaulted, and it was only his quick recognition of who the arm belonged to that saved its owner from having his face shoved into the wall.

“Shan,” Jonas exclaimed, “why haven’t we gone out again?”

“Because you’re still banned from the Dealer’s Den for cheating?”

“I do not cheat!” Jonas proclaimed loudly, then leaned close. Theron felt something being slid into his pocket and heard a quick whisper. “This qualified as weird for me. Mind telling me what you’re up to?”

Theron shot him a glance and shook his head minutely, and then made a show of elbowing him away. “You might be right, I hear there might be a crooked dealer there.”

“I don’t like to accuse people of cheating without proof,” Jonas said carefully. “Being wrong about that’s almost as bad as cheating itself.”

“As I said, I just heard, never confirmed.”

Jonas pressed his lips together in a thin line, a little concern surfacing through his cheery facade. “I’ve got to run to Denon, I don’t think I’m going to be able to make it for a rematch at Dealer’s Den for a while.”

“That’s too bad,” Theron said casually, “I wouldn’t mind having another go myself.”

“I’m not a fan of drinking alone, Shan. Gets rather lonely. You really shouldn’t either.”

“I’m touched by your concern for my social life, Balkar, but I’ll be fine.”

“I’m more concerned about that face jumping in front of more incoming fists. Or maybe getting a vibro-knife in the back. Bar fights can easily get out of hand.”

“Funny how that doesn’t stop you from getting into them when I’m around.”

“That’s because we’re both there,” the joking edge from Jonas’s tone was rapidly fading away. “I’m just saying, it’s not a good idea to take on heavy hitters without someone backing you up.”

It probably had been too much to hope that Jonas wouldn’t get some clue of what Theron was doing in his off time after their last drinking session. It was clear that his occasional partner was not going to let this drop, and if he kept the conversation going too long it was going to attract attention.

“What if I took a date?”

“I might get jealous if you start running around on me with another drinking partner. Does he have a good right hook?”

Theron shrugged. “Hers is better than yours, that’s for sure.”

“Her?” Jonas’s eyebrows shot up, intrigued. “This the same girl we talked about last time?”

“Could be.”

“Well, in that case I guess I’ll allow it.”

“You’ll allow it? What are you, my keeper?”

“When you’re being a careless idiot? Yes,” Jonas ground out. “You don’t always look both ways before leaping into oncoming traffic.”

“I’m always careful, and I’m never an idiot,” he corrected.

“You still leap into traffic, though.”

“Have to get across the street somehow. Crosswalks are boring.”

“You’re the worst sort of pedestrian.” Jonas shook his head, and then fixed Theron with a hard, serious look. “Just watch yourself, okay?”

“Don’t I always?”

“No,” he said, “that’s why I’m saying it. Don’t make me find another drinking buddy, Shan.”

“I already told you, we’re not bud—”

Jonas cut him off with a glare, and the usual retort died on Theron’s lips. He crossed his arms in front of his chest and let out a sigh. “Fine. We’ll get another round next time we’re both in town. Happy?”

“Ecstatic,” Jonas said flatly. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a date with the least chatty person in the Denon system. Can’t be late for that.”

“Have fun,” Theron intoned as his fellow agent left as quickly as he came, leaving Theron alone with his caf.

He glanced around, sipping from his mug and making his way back to the data terminal he’d staked out. As he sat down, he fingered what had been slipped into his pocket, marking out the familiar shape of a data chip. Considering the ruckus Jonas had made, it would be best to look at it in the relative privacy of his apartment.

The rest of the hours dragged by, as he found it hard to focus. His eyes kept straying to the chronometer at his station, as his mind kept straying to the data chip and Jonas’s ill-concealed concerns. He’d tossed Highwind’s name in the conversation to get the other man to back down, but he still wasn’t sure exactly what role the Jedi should play in all of this. She’d provide ample muscle if he needed to make a show of force, but he still had to wonder about her reliability.

She’d been all too eager to throw in with him to uncover the truth behind the attack on Tython, but enthusiasm didn’t earn any extra points with him. If anything, it only puzzled him more. He’d expected a far more grizzled, no-nonsense Jedi from what he’d read in her dossier, and he’d seen some hints of a more battle-hardened personality emerging when she was leading the strike teams. There almost seemed to be a different person that emerged when the pressure wasn’t on. He wouldn’t describe that as normal, because she came across far too earnest and almost compassionate to a fault. When he tried to mesh those observations with her record, including the curious gaps and sparse mission details that smelled of a coverup—he was just left with more questions.

Theron didn’t like questions, as it meant he was lacking intel. And not having the right answers could get him killed in the wrong situation. It was hard to say if this was one of those cases, as he tended to lean on the more paranoid side of things. It still bugged him, though. He preferred to know exactly what and who he was dealing with. Maybe if he’d known more about Darok before taking on the Korriban op, things would be very different right now.

His eyes strayed back to the chrono, watching as another minute ticked by at an agonizingly slow pace, and he tried to calculate the time that had passed since his last missive to The Defender. The previous replies had come in rather quick, but he was already nearing seven days without a response. It didn’t bother him exactly, as it was obvious that there were more important things for a Jedi Knight to be doing than checking her inbox constantly. And considering the six-month gap in her dossier, her being out of contact wasn’t exactly an abnormal occurrence.

Maybe after he looked at whatever Jonas had dug up, Theron would check in on the HoloNet and see what was happening in the Tapani Sector.

Just out professional curiosity. That was all it was.

#swtor fanfiction #theron shan x jedi knight #Theron Shan #Jonas Balkar #Female Jedi Knight/Hero of Tython #oc: greyias highwind #otp: adorkable #brotp: spyboys #brotp: theron shan & jonas balkar #SoR Fic O Doom #smoke and mirrors #swtor #fanfic #greyfic

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jahaanofmenaphos · 4 years ago

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Of Gods and Men: Epilogue

Read the full work here:

ARCHIVE OF OUR OWN

FANFICTION.NET

TUMBLR CHAPTER INDEX

EPILOGUE:

Jahaan dangled his fishing rod down into the depths of the wondrous Prifddinas waterfall. The waterfall was sky-blue and magical, tumbling down over the mountain and splashing into the lake below. The pool down there was so clear it perfectly reflected the brilliant white clouds above like an impeccable mirror image of the sky. The falls twinkled as sunlight caught the crystal walls of the surrounding buildings and flashed their brilliance into the lake.

The air tasted fresh on Jahaan’s tongue, as nourishing as a glass of iced water. You could smell the purity of the atmosphere, of a little haven attuned with nature, living harmoniously around its elven neighbours.

The crashing cascade of the water was a low hum beneath him, a pleasant swish of waves lapping against the rocks. He heard the sound of children playing in the lake below, giggling and laughing in tune with the sweet chirping of birds.

Perched on his little wooden bridge, Jahaan took in the calming atmosphere with a contented sigh. This was the place he spent most of his days now, ever since the town council agreed to gift him a little house in the Meilyr district, a small token of appreciation for his services to Gielinor. It had been about three months since he was discharged from the hospital, and he hadn’t left Prifddinas since. He didn’t want to.

Jahaan worked part-time in the bait-and-tackle shop in the Meilyr district, and supplemented his income by fishing. They had strange fish in these waters, all making for a strange delicacy. It was an acquired taste at first, the urchins that he caught and cooked, but he slowly got used to them. Once he learned he could put them in soup - creating the best delicacy ever, hill still firmly there to die on - it was a different matter entirely. Lady Heledd had been kind enough to share the recipe with him.

Ozan settled down beside the bridge, still keeping a slight distance between himself and Jahaan. “Hey, Ariane’s finished setting up the picnic if you wanna come join us?”

Ozan was adapting to life as a wight quicker than anticipated. The inability to eat grated on him the most, and his appearance would occasionally frighten the elven children. It took awhile to convince the locals he wasn’t a zombie. Said locals referred to him as ‘marwwr’, not really a term of endearment but a factual statement that, yes, he was a deadman. Ozan got used to it though, taking it in good humour.

He and Ariane didn’t exactly want to relocate to Prifddinas, but ended up doing so anyway. Unfortunately, west of the River Lum, those of the undead variety weren’t particularly welcome in towns and cities. At least in Prifddinas, Ozan had Jahaan, the town elders, and even Seren to vouch for him. As for Ariane, thanks to teleportation, it was easy to commute to the Wizards’ Tower for work. There, she and a handful of other wizards were starting to look into a cure for Ozan’s affliction, but hopes weren’t high as of yet.

Coal wasn’t a big fan of Prifddinas once he figured out that crystal was too tough to eat, and most of the structures and tools in the city were made out of such a material.

Nudging closer to Jahaan, but never too close, Ozan motioned with his head to the female fisherman perched on the rock opposite Jahaan, the one with brunette bangs who’s eyes kept flicking in the World Guardian’s direction.

“Psst,” Ozan whispered with a mischievous smirk. “I think she’s checking you out.”

Jahaan looked over at the elf in question, but she quickly glanced away with a sheepish smile.

Turning back to Ozan, Jahaan grinned and said, “Drop dead Ozan.”

“Already did, Jahaan.”

“Encore.”

Then there was a laugh, but it wasn’t Jahaan’s or Ozan’s, and it echoed throughout Jahaan’s mind. He shook his head to clear it.

This had happened before, many times. Jahaan had a theory, but he shared it with no-one. After all, a pleasant lie was far better than an unpleasant truth.

What he didn’t know was, some of those around him had the exact same theory.

There were differences he noticed ever since he woke up inside that Prifddinas hospital bed. He could sense auras around people, dark shadows that lurked around their being. Sometimes the world had slightly muted colours, like he was unconsciously slipping into the Shadow Realm, something he never intended to do again.

But the main difference he noticed was the voice inside his head, a new voice that was certainly not his own.

It was there during the menial and mundane, there during the trials and tribulations. It talked to him, and talked AT him. Reassuring occasionally, mocking often, but not necessarily at his expense. It commented on things, laughed at other people’s jokes.

Sometimes it even sang.

At first it disturbed him, but as he became more and more used to its presence, it stopped bothering him so much. Sometimes, when it was quiet, Jahaan missed it.

But late at night, when he tried to go to sleep, the familiar laugh would always return...

...and when no-one was around…

...Jahaan would laugh back.

DISCLAIMER:

As Of Gods and Men is a reimagining, retelling and reworking of the Sixth Age, a LOT of dialogue/characters/plotlines/etc. are pulled right from the game itself, and this belongs to Jagex.

Previous chapter

#of gods and men #it's been a wild ride guys #ty all so much!

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newstfionline · 4 years ago

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Tuesday, December 15, 2020

Electoral College makes it official: Biden won (AP) The Electoral College formally chose Joe Biden on Monday as the nation’s next president, giving him a solid electoral majority of 306 votes and confirming his victory in last month’s election. The state-by-state voting took on added importance this year because of President Donald Trump’s refusal to concede he had lost. Heightened security was in place in some states as electors met on the day established by federal law. Electors cast paper ballots in gatherings with masks, social distancing and other virus precautions the order of the day. The results will be sent to Washington and tallied in a Jan. 6 joint session of Congress over which Vice President Mike Pence will preside. For all Trump’s unsupported claims of fraud, there was little suspense and no change as all the electoral votes allocated to Biden and the president in last month’s popular vote went officially to each man. Biden renewed his campaign promise to be a president for all Americans, whether they voted for him or not, and said the country has hard work ahead on the virus and economy.

The Electoral College, an unlovable compromise (AP) For a compromise that has lasted more than 200 years, the Electoral College doesn’t get a lot of love. According to the National Archives, more Constitutional amendments have been proposed to alter or abolish the Electoral College than on any other subject—more than 700 proposals in the nation’s history. It was James Madison who drew up the system, a compromise between those who wanted the states to select the president and those who wanted direct election by qualified voters. Each state was to select a number of electors equal to its representation in Congress (senators and representatives). Under the Constitution, the president must be elected with a majority of electors. If no one wins a majority, the House of Representatives decides. The national popular vote plays no part; five men have been elected president though their opponent won more votes, most recently Donald Trump in 2016. The electors meet and vote in their states on the first Monday after the second Wednesday in December.

Hospitals Prepare for First Shots as Virus Vaccine Shipments Blanket U.S. (NYT) Trucks and cargo planes packed with the first of nearly three million doses of coronavirus vaccine fanned out across the country on Sunday as hospitals rushed to set up injection sites and their anxious workers tracked each shipment hour by hour. The distribution of the first federally approved vaccine marked the start of the most ambitious vaccination campaign in American history, a critical, complicated feat that one top federal official compared to the Allied landings at Normandy during World War II. Now, the United States is trying to turn the tide of battle against a virus whose spread has killed nearly 300,000 people, ravaged the economy and upended millions of lives. The first doses will go to health care workers, who could start receiving shots by Monday. Residents of nursing homes, who have suffered a disproportionate share of Covid-19 deaths, are also being prioritized and are expected to begin getting vaccinations next week.

Lessons (Pew Research Center) A large majority of U.S. adults (86%) say there is some kind of lesson or set of lessons for mankind to learn from the coronavirus outbreak, and about a third (35%) say these lessons were sent by God. In open-ended survey responses collected by the Center in the summer, Americans pointed to practical lessons, such as wearing a mask; personal lessons, such as remembering the importance of spending time with family and loved ones; and societal lessons, such as the need for universal health care. Other responses were political in nature, including criticisms of both major parties and concerns about the politicization of the pandemic. Among those who say there is a lesson about religion within the pandemic, some respondents point to the role God has in humans’ lives. For instance, a 53-year-old woman writes that “whether you believe it or not, God is in control and we must have God at the center of our lives. He is our savior.” Many respondents mention lessons about changes people should make in their personal lives and relationships with others. One 46-year-old woman says people need to “think about what is REALLY important and how your time is REALLY spent … hopefully this is an opportunity for people to rethink their priorities.” Similarly, a man in his 40s writes, “Life moves too quickly and people don’t slow down long enough to see their lives pass by. The virus has shown us that life doesn’t need to fly by so quickly. We can enjoy the moment more.” Many respondents also frame the coronavirus as a simple reminder to treat others well. A 54-year-old woman says that “we should always be kind to one another regardless of race, religion, or political belief. The virus does not discriminate, and neither should we.”

Russian Hackers Broke Into Federal Agencies, U.S. Officials Suspect (NYT) The Trump administration acknowledged on Sunday that hackers acting on behalf of a foreign government—almost certainly a Russian intelligence agency, according to federal and private experts—broke into a range of key government networks, including in the Treasury and Commerce Departments, and had free access to their email systems. Officials said a hunt was on to determine if other parts of the government had been affected by what looked to be one of the most sophisticated, and perhaps among the largest, attacks on federal systems in the past five years. The motive for the attack remains elusive, two people familiar with the matter said. One government official said it was too soon to tell how damaging the attacks were and how much material was lost, but according to several corporate officials, the attacks had been underway as early as this spring, meaning they continued undetected through months of the pandemic and the election season.

Blocked to fly, free to sue (CNN) In an 8-0 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that three Muslim men who wanted to sue FBI officials for financial damages were clear to proceed, finding that the Religious Freedom Restoration Act allowed suits against individual agents. It’s a really interesting case: in 2013, Muhammad Tanzir, Jameel Algibhah and Naveed Shinwari say the FBI attempted to recruit them to become informants, and when they declined the offer they allege the agents retaliated by putting them on no-fly lists, preventing them from getting on any plane that arrives, departs, or passes through the U.S. This, they argue, carried significant financial damages, and they would like to sue to get them. The Justice Department wanted the case thrown out, though the court unanimously held the case could proceed.

Venezuela’s Isolation Increases After Panama Suspends Flights (Bloomberg) Panama has suspended flights from Venezuela, cutting off one of the few remaining air corridors out of the country. Panama’s aviation authority said Sunday that it took the measure after Venezuela restricted access to a Panamanian airline while demanding increased slots in Panama for Venezuelan airlines. The suspension will apply from Sunday until Panama receives “equal and fair treatment,” the authority said in a statement. More than a dozen foreign airlines have stopped servicing Venezuela since 2014, including Delta Air Lines Inc., Deutsche Lufthansa AG and Avianca Holdings SA.

Bolsonaro bump (Foreign Policy) Even as a local newspaper blames his “homicidal negligence” in the face of the coronavirus pandemic, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro is seeing record approval ratings. A recent poll by Brazilian firm Datafolha found that 37 percent of Brazilians see his government as great or good, while the number viewing it as bad or terrible reduced 2 points to 32 percent. Bolsonaro’s relatively solid approval is likely due to his support for a cash benefit for low-income residents hit by the pandemic, which Bolsonaro recently extended until the end of the year.

Daytime darkness: Total solar eclipse wows in Latin America (AP) Thousands of people gathered in the Chilean region of La Araucanía on Monday to witness a solar eclipse, rejoicing in the rare experience even though visibility was limited because of cloudy skies. Skies were clear in northern Patagonia in Argentina, where people also watched the moon briefly block out the sun and plunge daytime into darkness. Many people wore masks to curb the spread of COVID-19, though they crowded together in some places in Pucón and in other areas of La Araucanía, 700 kilometers (430 miles) south of Santiago, the Chilean capital. Thousands jumped and shouted happily in the drizzle when the sun was completely covered by the moon and then silence descended for a few moments. People again screamed and whooped excitedly when the sun appeared again. During the brief period of darkness, only the lights of cell phones were visible. The next total solar eclipse in Chile is expected to occur in 28 years. Another is expected to be visible in Antarctica by the end of 2021.

Ministers warn supermarkets to stockpile food amid no‑deal Brexit fears (Times of London) Supermarkets are this weekend stockpiling food and other goods after being told by ministers that a no-deal Brexit is on the cards. Food producers have warned there will be shortages of vegetables for three months and emergency planners predict that no-deal would spark panic-buying on a scale that could dwarf the coronavirus crisis. In a sign of what might be to come, lorries were backed up for three miles on the A20 outside Dover yesterday, after Calais suffered 10-mile tailbacks on Friday. Hauliers blamed the jams in Kent on “stock-building”.

Protesting Indian farmers call for 2nd strike in a week (AP) Tens of thousands of protesting Indian farmers called for a national farmers’ strike on Monday, the second in a week, to press for the quashing of three new laws on agricultural reform that they say will drive down crop prices and devastate their earnings. The farmers are camping along at least five major highways on the outskirts of New Delhi and have said they won’t leave until the government rolls back what they call the “black laws.” They have blockaded highways leading to the capital for three weeks, and several rounds of talks with the government have failed to produce any breakthroughs. Protest leaders have rejected the government’s offer to amend some contentious provisions of the new farm laws, which deregulate crop pricing, and have stuck to their demand for total repeal.

China’s Combative Nationalists See a World Turning Their Way (NYT) In one Beijing artist’s recent depiction of the world in 2098, China is a high-tech superpower and the United States is humbled. Americans have embraced communism and Manhattan, draped with the hammer-and-sickle flags of the “People’s Union of America,” has become a quaint tourist precinct. This triumphant vision has resonated among Chinese. China’s Communist Party, under its leader, Xi Jinping, has promoted the idea that the country is on a trajectory to power past Western rivals. China stamped out the coronavirus, the messaging goes, with a resolve beyond the reach of flailing Western democracies. Beijing has rolled out homegrown vaccines to more than a million people, despite the safety concerns of scientists. China’s economy has revived, defying fears of a deep slump from the pandemic. “In this fight against the pandemic, there will be victorious powers and defeated ones,” Wang Xiangsui, a retired Chinese senior colonel who teaches at a university in Beijing, averred this month. “We’re a victor power, while the United States is still mired and, I think, may well become a defeated power.” The firm leadership of Mr. Xi and the party has earned China its recent success, say newspapers, television programs and social media. “Time to wake up from blind faith in the Western system,” said a commentary in the state-run China Education News last week. “Vicious partisan fighting has worsened in certain Western countries, social fissures have deepened, and a severe social crisis is brewing.”

Europe-Iran relations (Foreign Policy) European nations have pulled out of a Europe-Iran business forum in protest over the execution of dissident journalist Rouhollah Zam over the weekend. Zam had been kidnapped from Iraq and taken to Iran to face charges of fomenting dissent during anti-government demonstrations in 2017. Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif was also due to take part in the forum, which has now been cancelled. Iran summoned the German ambassador to Tehran over the European actions, and blasted the “interventionist statements” made in the wake of the execution.

Oil tanker attacked in Saudi Arabian port by “booby-trapped boat” amid ongoing war in Yemen (CBS News) An oil tanker off Saudi Arabia’s port city of Jiddah was attacked on Monday by smaller “boobyt-trapped boat” rigged with explosives, causing a small fire on the ship, Saudi state TV reported, citing an official from the state energy ministry. Earlier a shipping company said the tanker had suffered an explosion after being hit by “an external source,” suggesting another vessel had come under attack amid Saudi Arabia’s years-long war in Yemen. The attack on the Singapore-flagged BW Rhine, which had been contracted by the trading arm of the kingdom’s massive Saudi Arabian Oil Co., marks the fourth assault targeting Saudi energy infrastructure in a month. It also apparently shut down Jiddah port, the most-important shipping point for the kingdom. The United Kingdom Marine Trade Operations, an organization under Britain’s royal navy, urged ships in the area to exercise caution and said investigations were ongoing. It later said Jiddah port had been shut down for a “duration unknown,” without elaborating.

#headlines #news

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comicteaparty · 5 years ago

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May 9th-May 15th, 2020 Creator Babble Archive

The archive for the Creator Babble chat that occurred from May 9th, 2020 to May 15th, 2020. The chat focused on the following question:

What experiences do you have related to contests for comics, and do you find them worthwhile?

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

:0 what a relevant question(edited)

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

Funnily enough, I was going to enter this year’s WEBTOON competition, but I decided to focus on my webcomic instead. I still have concept art of my original idea (based off of Russian folklore) that I might draw one day, but it was fun drawing it.

I decided instead to just support the friends and fellow artists I know who entered the contest. It’s nice to see their hard work pay off.

chalcara [Nyx+Nyssa]

I usually had either no time or no interest in a particular contest, so I have no clue. The only time I had both you needed to give up your copyright to enter, and thus I found it more worthwhile to put the effort into my own art and the dayjob.

LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)

I’ve never submitted to a contest I’ve considered submitting my existing work for various contests/awards, but in the end I always decide my story just isn’t far enough along yet to justify it. And my brain isn’t buzzy enough to create an original short story for something like the Webtoon one, so I’m out on that. I did get nominated for an award that turned into a voting contest anyway, but the winners were going to be practically guaranteed based on existing popularity, so... it was a nice gesture without any real chance of success. But it was cool to be up there with some heavy hitters. I dunno. Maybe one day I’ll feel more comfortable with the idea, once I feel like I’ve earned the chance

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

Not webcomic related, but back in 5th grade, there was this shounen jump-like Korean magazine that I was reading. One day, they announced a contest with the first and second place winners being offered a chance to serialize their own thing. While I had been doodling my own comics before that point, that was the first time it occurred to me: hey, I could be doing this like a pro. I could be a pro. So I tried to make my own entry for that contest. I never finished it, nor did I, in retrospect, stand a chance. But it was an eye-opener: my work could be taken seriously, could be seen by others. It was a possibility! I was going through a less than ideal time in my life at the time, too. Nothing super bad or abusive, just unstable/unpredictable, left me no headspace for a 5th grade kid to dream of the future. So it was pretty meaningful to have that kind of eye-opening excitement about possibilities/ future/ change.

I no longer want to go pro. I don't think I can deal with the emotional burden of relying on audience reception for income. But it was a good phase to go through.

DanitheCarutor

For comics it's never crossed my mind to submit anything for a contest, the prizes never catch my interest since I'd rather just buy something if I want it. I'm not much of a competitive person in general, if I do get like that it's usually for something fun that doesn't require as much stress, time and resources as art. (like sports or video games) A while back I saw two contests to win a digital drawing tablet, it was getting a lot of hype in the webcomic Twitter community, but I already have a tablet and almost never use it so the contests were kind of pointless for me. Even if the tablets were those fancy screen tablets you draw directly on. Not comic related, but when I was a teen I hung out on Gaia Online almost all day and partook in the art contests there to win items and gold. Drawing was just some fun thing back then since I didn't have to worry about cost of materials or the value of my time, so I indulged in those contests often. My mom used to get really mad at me wasting my "talent" and resources pretty much for free. Lol I still have all the avie drawings saved on my computer.

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

Yeah, Gaia contests were fun that way

Joichi [Hybrid Dolls]

Speaking of contest, I did participate in an illustration fan contest for ADV (when it was still around), I found it while I was still a small Deviantart artist. I don't have strong hope of winning but when I did, my school kid self was excited. My work was appreciated and I made art for a series I loved. I felt a little victory. :) It's easier to draw for a fan series than make up an original that has obstacles stacked against me. But I might try to participate in a comic contest one day(edited)

DanitheCarutor

@keii’ii (Heart of Keol) Fff Gaia was such a low stress site, I loved hanging out there. Getting those monthly special items was a while event.

carcarchu

I agree dani, i have never understood the point of art contests where the prize is tablet. what do you think they're drawing on to enter it??

DanitheCarutor

I think a lot of the people who do have contests for art supplies like that have sponsorships, but they're pretty pointless if you're good with what you got... and you just don't like competing in general.

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

It probably makes more sense with traditional media supplies since you run out of them all the time. But tablets... yeah

mariah (rainy day dreams)

I had kind of a similar early experience with contests as keii'ii. Went I was a kiddo, Tokyo Pop still existed and had their rising stars of manga contest. Seeing other Americans being published like that really took me from "I love these comics and drawing fan art and ocs for them" to "I could write my own stories with my own characters and other kids could buy them at the store and be inspired." My adult experience with contest had mostly been that they're a one way a good way to feel heart broken for a while X') I've got a lot of perfectionist tendencies, so loosing always feels really bad. Maybe also because I take a lot of pride in my work and I want to be recognized for it. And I think maybe winning a contest is kind of an easier way of feeling accomplished than a followed count or monthly site statistics? I'm not sure XD also it would just be cool to be able to tell people I'm an award winning comic artist XDXD Dealing with rejection/not winning is definitely something I've gotten better at. I'm hoping to make a small submission for that shonen jump contest that got posted here a few days ago. Not cuz I think I'll probably win anything, but it feel like a neat thing to do for myself. But also... Always got that secret hope of what if I did haha! XD

DanitheCarutor

@keii’ii (Heart of Keol) In a way it's kind of redundant though? If you think about it you're using up your resources to get more, which would probably just be enough to refill the stock you used for the contest with a little extra. (depending on how much work you put into the illustration/comic) Unless the contest was for a year supply of 'X' you don't get much out of it. xP I can also see the tablet contest being good for people who can't afford to get one, or can't afford to upgrade if theirs is broken down and old, but yeah. It's not super useful if you already have a good functioning one. I know for some contests it's also the bragging rights, or some credibility when you're trying to get art/comic jobs, but it's just not my thing.

Joichi [Hybrid Dolls]

Aww I understand how you feel @mariah (rainy day dreams) you describe the same emotion I felt trying to enter comic submissions, wanting that chance to get it noticed and picked up. Yeah as long as you give it a try, at least a story is made!

#ctparchive #comics #webcomics #indie comics #comic chat #comic discussion #comic tea party #ctp #creator interview #comic creator interview #creator babble

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lalouver · 5 years ago

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For nearly two decades, Mark di Suvero’s public sculpture “Declaration” has cut a welcoming shape in the skyline of Venice Beach. The “V” shaped arms reaching out from this 62-foot sculpture beckon out to the boardwalk, providing a rendezvous point for friends as well as a shady respite for those sun-drenched and foot weary. And those uses are fitting, as fraternity among humankind is exactly what is at the heart of this massive steel giant. “Declaration,” Mark di Suvero said of the sculpture, was “named for the Declaration of Independence—particularly Martin Luther King, Jr.,’s version, with its emphasis on equality and its application to everyone.” Read along to follow “Declaration” through some of the historical highlights of its nineteen years in the vibrant community of Venice Beach.

2019: On December 21, 2019, the sculpture was thronged by tens of thousands as a rally for Presidential Candidate Bernie Sanders featuring U.S. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez took place at its base.

While this event on Venice Beach buzzed with collective excitement, there is rarely an uneventful moment in the shadow of “Declaration.” Located between the Venice Beach Skate Park and the Venice Beach Basketball Court the sculpture can be seen fanning off yoga classes, skate videos, basketball games, dance classes, street performance and all varieties of outdoor public activities this unique beach neighborhood offers. Indeed, the sculpture welcomes over a million visitors to Venice Beach every year.

2004: On June 16, 2004, the Olympic torch landed in Los Angeles on its worldwide tour leading up to the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece. Actor Sylvester Stallone began the historic torch relay on Venice Beach, flanked by onlookers and presided over by “Declaration.”

2001: In the aftermath of the September 11, L.A. Louver banded together with Otis College, Beyond Baroque and Venice Family Clinic, to hold a night of poetry and elegiac protest in response to the attacks. Serving as a platform to share and elevate the voice of the community, the event “Where are the voices?,” took place on December 11, 2001, in the shelter of the enormous sculpture.

Some voices from that night:

Sammy Hoi, President of Otis College:

“Tonight we stand beneath this magnificent sculpture by Mark di Suvero entitled “Declaration.” Like the sculpture’s feelers and hopeful form, we inspire to reach upward, higher, to understand, and to make our own declaration.”

Lewis MacAdams, poet:

“Security? None of us ever bargained for security. And none of us ever got it either. Responsibility? Now we got to stand up here in the middle of the night with the police looking at us like we were deadmen or dupes. Nicaragua, Granada, Panama, El Salvador, Iraq, Afghanistan We are a peace loving people. Is there anybody I’ve left out? And no, I am not a patriot, though I’m loyal to the Lakers and the L.A. River. I am a citizen of the earth.”

Hear a complete audio recording of this event here.

In May of 2001, Mark di Suvero installed “Declaration” as part of the 22nd Venice Art Walk, a fundraising initiative of the Venice Family Clinic, a local organization that provides quality health care to low-income and uninsured individuals and families, even to this day. “Art is a gift which we give to others,” said the artist at the time of the installation. Little did anyone realize, the temporary loan would become a staple of the Venice Beach skyline for the next 19 years. In 2018 the artist commented on its decades of time on the beach, “The people of the city of Venice really respond to it. They understand that it’s a way of living in space, this open space that is California, with beaches, and health and craziness. That they enjoy it is the most important part of it.” You can see the rest of this interview here.

1991: After 2 years of campaigning and letter writing to city officials, permission was finally granted to allow Mark di Suvero to install two of his large-scale sculptures on Venice Beach, “For Gerard Manley Hopkins” (1989) and “Letter to The World” (1989). This marked the first time public sculpture was permitted on Venice Beach. A decade later, “Declaration,” followed the bureaucratic path hewn by these two original public works on the boardwalk.

Now, Venice Beach may lose a landmark and this powerful legacy championing the spirit of this unique community. For our ongoing archive of materials related to “Declaration,” you can visit: www.declaration.lalouver.com

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vapormaison · 5 years ago

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4 Future Funk Releases Deserving of a Vinyl Press

As 2020 looms, I inevitably start thinking about filing for tax returns. Maybe that’s a symbol of the rote, misery-inducing modernity of twenty-first-century life — but I’m trying to take it as a positive this year. Getting some cash back from the Internal Revenue Service means more disposable income to drop on vinyl. While I’ll be spending quite a bit more on Japanese ambient wax this year, I’ll be ear-marking a fair share to go into vaporwave and future funk releases.

With the platform that I have currently, it’s now a definite responsibility to identify some gems that deserve a label to step up and put together a killer release on wax. With the social reach that I’ve gotten in just two months of somewhat milquetoast long-form reviews, it’s honestly a bit insane — but I’m also insanely thankful. I certainly wasn’t expecting over 400 followers from Japan when I’m publishing in English, so — ありがとうございました!

Hi-fi appreciation tends to cross artificial barriers of language and nationality.

Over the past five days I’ve compiled a pretty exhaustive list of 100 digital-only and digital/cassette releases that I’ve streamed the most over the past year. To suss out which releases sounded best for hi-fi consumption, I decided to test them on my two Christmas gifts this holiday — A Cambridge Audio 851N network streamer/pre-amp and a pair of new “anniversary” JBL 4312 Mk2 speakers powered by my vintage H/K 700 series Amp. While most of the list slapped on this new kit, there were four releases that I felt were truly deserving of getting a wax treatment in 2020. These are, in effect, the ones I’d be a guaranteed buyer of. Here they are:

Marsy + HER by Marsy

Admittedly, I stumbled on Marsy’s work just by scrolling through the list of releases through Bogus Collective, which over the course of 2019 has rocketed to the top of my list of favorite digital labels for discovering new artists. While this is of course a fine way to discover an artist — I’m stunned that I didn’t first encounter Marsy’s work on the two most visible channels for future funk discovery and appreciation — Artzie & Real Love Music. Unfortunately Real Love and Artzie haven’t been keeping up with their releases, with the most recent video on youtube from either curator dating back to November 2018. While I do get a deja vu feeling with Marsy — as in, I must have seen them on these platforms before -- perhaps with actually being cognizant, an artist of this caliber should be all over those channels on a basis at least roughly corresponding with their releases.

Do better, fellas!

Marsy’s most recent work is an absolute banger with one of the widest mixes I’ve listened to this year. The JBLs absolutely ate up the rich bass and low-range in most of Marsy’s tracks, and for a moment I had to ask myself how this release was sitting around as a digital-only. This is just one of those funky profiles made for vinyl. That being said, 7 tracks seems a bit light for a twelve-inch LP, so if I was advising a label (happy to do this pro-bono!) I’d maybe pair this album with another robust, high-energy release from Marsy: 2018’s 5-track Her EP, which coincidentally has one of my favorite individual future funk tracks (愛のFantasy) and absolutely brilliant cover art.

Star Virgin -- サクラSAKURA-LEE

I’m going to go on a soapbox for a moment here: I don’t like Qrates. I’ve bought from Qrates campaigns before and often find their wax brittle and their presses tinny. Now, there are a whole host of reasons why this could be the case — vinyl necessitates a much longer production line — and this inevitably creates errors. But these errors should be corrected by someone in a quality control department. And if you talk to any of the major labels, relationships with QC/QA people are some of the most essential recipes to a good physical release. This is in effect the primary function of a physical-oriented underground label: ensuring a proper quality press by ordering tests, and keeping limited back stock in case there’s some kind of slip-up. Qrates campaigns don’t offer this in sufficient degrees — and as a result makes a lot of potential buyers feel insecure.

This all said, Sakura-Lee’s unsuccessful Qrates campaign shouldn’t be seen as a lack of desire to support a proper wax release of their iconic Star Virgin release — I genuinely think it’s regarding people’s reservations about dropping $30 or more for vinyl of potentially mediocre quality. Ultimately, this is where labels should step in, build up some buzz, and provide a modicum of quality assurance to truly finalize that sale. I’ve talked to a lot of audiophiles who would love the hear tracks like The Sweet Escape and Feelings with the warmth of vinyl. Sakura-Lee’s sound is so unique and so well-suited to the format. As an owner of the Star Virgin minidisc, I can certainly attest to the quality of that release and the great sound it’s produced on my hi-fi. But minidisc is cold. Crisp, but cold. Star Virgin is musical joie de vivre -- it has all the energy of life itself, and contrasts with the almost archival and clinical nature of the minidisc format. In my view, there’s no doubt that with the right master and press, this would produce an otherworldly sound worthy of its title once it finds its way onto wax -- hopefully in 2020!

Kween Pepsi -- Jesse Cassettes

Latin future funk is the warmest of all future funk. This is partially because us Latins (your humble reviewer is named Sebastião, after all) are the warmest people in all the world. It stands to reason then, that vinyl, music’s warmest medium — is a natural fit for for the funkiest of all music. I first discovered Jesse Casettes on the Eternal Vibes compilation, which is a compilation full of warm, Latin sounds and Jesse Cassette’s contribution to it was my absolute favorite. I’ve been a huge fan of their work ever since.

Kween Pepsi is a masterwork that toys with a good speaker’s treble response like nothing else I’ve listened to. Only a few future funk artists can reach this level of playfulness on the high end — Night Tempo, Cosmic Bae, and a few others. But almost none sound quite as fun as Jesse Casettes, and none sound as polished and well-mixed. Kween Pepsi hits you with banger after banger, and the Seikomart tape was already a commercial success. It stands to reason that Kween Pepsi could get a nice master and fly off the market, giving audiophiles another grail on vinyl that stands out as one of the genre’s finest albums of the decade. Bringing it into the next with a new physical seems like a great idea. What DJ wouldn’t want to drop the needle on a track as well arranged and layered Osaka Fall Season Nights and let their system shine?

Miss — Flammy

Real Love beat me to the punch very recently by featuring Flammy on their channel, but Flammy is still an under-appreciated artist that I’m hoping to see 2020 herald big things for. I’ve always appreciated their deeply creative sampling, and their mixes consistently sound rich and full on every hi-fi system I play them on. I happened upon “I bet my girlfriend is chinese and aesthetic” (a title very real for me as my girlfriend is both chinese and aesthetic) back in early 2018 and was instantly impressed on how it made my KEFs absolutely werk in spite of my stodgy old British floor-standers never receiving vaportrap/future hop with very much vigor.

After kind of losing track in the waves of new releases over the past year or so, I re-discovered their work this month after Miss released, and their mixes, creative micro-sampling (City Hunter, anyone?) have been just as rich and rewarding to both my system and my ears as on that initial listen. As I said earlier, I genuinely think this Lille, France-based artist is on the verge of a blowup, and when that happens I want to make sure my childish ranting of “I want this on vinyl!” is heard sufficiently by whatever label steps up to the plate. My suggestion: maybe get this EP on a 10-inch.

#future funk #vinyl

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ibelieveinahappilyeverafter · 6 years ago

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Villainous Heroics - Chapter 14

This turned into the longest chapter of the story thus far and this whole thing spawned from what was supposed to be a 1k word intro to the actual chapter. Well... I hope you enjoy, at least!

And before I forget, this story has fanfiction of it's own! Check out "trying to take care of you" by H_C which involves a story divergence after Chapter 12 of this story.

Enjoy!

Click here to read the work on Archive Of Our Own.

Click here to read the work on Fan Fiction Net.

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Summary: Eraserhead is an underground hero who is constantly busy and doesn’t have time to be dealing with new villains - even if they aren’t all that villainous and make the night interesting.

Present Mic is the latest up-and-coming villain in the world and he has a point to prove to everyone out there - as long as he doesn’t keep getting distracted by Eraserhead.

Aizawa Shota is someone who soon learns that there is more to someone than the mask they show to the world - especially when it comes to playing heroes and villains.

Yamada Hizashi learns that there is more to heroics and villainy than he could have ever thought - especially in a world where some heroes still care about those lost in the shadows.

(Inspired and dedicated to corndog-patrol’s Villain!Mic AU on Tumblr.)

<<First/Chapter>> <<Last Chapter>> <<Next Chapter>>

Chapter Fourteen

Within a single day Hizashi had managed to tear one of the stitches in his shoulder, drop his keys down a storm drain, lose his time card that would allow him to clock in for his shift, had missed lunch because his boss didn’t trust him to take one without his time card, and, to top it all off, the same boss had also rejected his request for overtime even though Hizashi was pulling almost sixty hours a week.

He was sore, he was tired, and all he wanted to do was go home and sleep, but, no, instead he was staring at the door that lead into his shitty apartment complex, remembering with vivid detail the way he had dropped his keys into the drain earlier in the morning. His emergency key was also inside because he had used it a few weeks ago when losing his last set of keys in a fight.

Hizashi stared at his door, vaguely hearing Snowball meowing for him, before he turned and shambled his way back down the stairs, trying to keep his shoulder as still as possible. The over the counter meds he had taken had stopped working hours ago and Hizashi wasn’t sure if it was a good thing or not that he was hardly registering the pain anymore.

Feeling his phone buzz after he was halfway to the little convenience store a few blocks away, Hizashi sighed and dug it out, glancing at the message preview, ‘Yamada-san, can you take my afternoon shift? I know you open but I need to pick up Yuki from his father’s…’ Checking the sender, Hizashi groaned as he closed his eyes.

Kameyo was a single mother with a four-year-old who just received a quirk that changed his sweat into acid. There was no way she could afford to lose her source of income or even lose too many hours. If she didn’t find a replacement for her shift, then their boss would probably cut her back by fifteen hours at least. Fuck.

‘Consider me on the job, Kameyo-san!!’ Hizashi debated not sending the text for a moment before he went through with it, watching until he got confirmation. His phone then flickered to show a low battery warning before shutting off altogether.

Hizashi stared down at his phone and felt like everything he wanted to say was vibrating and buzzing throughout his body, pushing him closer and closer to some sort of edge. He didn’t realize he was shaking until he was winding his arm back and throwing his phone away from him as hard as he could, swearing and just barely holding his quirk back as he realized he threw it with the shoulder that had been shot just a short while ago.

“Huh. And here I thought you couldn’t swear.” Hizashi went utterly still, fingers clutching at his shoulder as if that would hold him together. It didn’t seem to be helping as everything felt even worse at realizing just who those words belonged to. After all, Hizashi could be deaf and blind and he would still know that voice. Apparently, the gods hadn’t made him suffer enough recently. “You know, it’s pretty irresponsible to be going around and throwing phones.”

At that, Hizashi slowly lifted his gaze up, swallowing as he saw Aizawa, in full pro hero gear, was holding Hizashi’s undamaged phone. If it had hit the ground, it probably would have cracked and Hizashi would have been even more screwed. It took a few moments to find his words, Hizashi almost tired enough to forget he wasn’t Present Mic in that moment. Fuck why did Aizawa always have to make things so difficult.

“Sorry, Aizawa-san. It’s… been a long night.” His body shook like there was a festering wound embedded under his skin, Hizashi rubbing at his throat and looking back down, doing his hardest to not scratch. He was an adult. He could handle himself, now.

“Mm.” Startling at the tap to his cheek, Hizashi glanced up once more, Aizawa patiently holding his phone out for him to take. “Then you won’t mind if I escort you home. Last time you were out this late you almost got shot.”

“I can promise that’s not a regular occurrence,” Hizashi said quickly, frowning a bit at the disbelieving snort. Maybe as Present Mic he got into trouble, but as Hizashi he was boring at best and uninteresting at most. “Besides, I, uh… can’t go home.”

“Why not?” With the man’s goggles resting on his forehead, Hizashi saw the way Aizawa’s eyes narrowed, a glint of red in the very center as he stared him down. Hizashi wondered if Aizawa knew how terrifying he could be.

“Oh, well, uh…” Trailing off, Hizashi ducked his face down and mumbled the reason quickly, praying Aizawa wouldn’t push.

“My quirk isn’t super hearing.” Ah, but then again, it was stubborn and brilliant Aizawa who could never let things go.

“I… dropped my keys down a storm drain.” The dreaded, awkward silence Hizashi was expecting never came and instead there was a quiet little laugh. As well, instead of feeling embarrassed, Hizashi felt something tight within him start to relax, Aizawa trying to hide his smile in his scarf. There was no hiding the amusement in his eyes, though. If he and Aizawa were anyone else, Hizashi might have called that look fond. “Yeah, like I said, it’s been a long night.”

“Come on,” Aizawa chuckled, walking forward and grabbing the front of Hizashi’s shirt before spinning him around and tugging him along to get him moving back towards his apartment. Hizashi was relatively sure Aizawa didn’t know where he lived, so the man had probably just made a lucky guess. “Do you leave your windows unlocked?”

“In this neighborhood?” Hizashi scoffed, trying not to flinch at the look Aizawa gave him. It was the same one he always gave Mic and it had Hizashi tucking into himself and fear that the other knew. “I keep one unlocked for emergencies in case I get broken into or something, but it’s not the one over the fire escape.”

“That’s fine, I can get in and then unlock the door from the front.” Right. Okay. Aizawa was helping him back into his apartment. Maybe he was trying to see where Present Mic lived? “Lead the way, then.”

Nodding and moving to walk beside the man, Hizashi chewed on his lip for a moment before working up his courage. “Um, Aizawa-san… Why are you helping me? I mean, surely a hero has more important things to deal with,” Hizashi aimed for a jovial tone and a laugh, but it must have fell flat because Aizawa looked so serious when he looked over at him.

“I think you’re plenty important, Yamada-san.” This man was bad for his heart. “And don’t bother with the honorifics. They make me feel old.”

“I hardly think you’d be considered old seeing as you’re still in your twenties.” There was a burst of deep, thrumming laughter, Hizashi almost tripping over his feet at realizing he had made Aizawa laugh.

“How old do you think I am?” Ah, that question when paired with a laugh meant Hizashi was about to feel deeply embarrassed.

“I don’t… Twenty-six? Twenty-seven?” That seemed about right. Aizawa was messy and often had tangled hair and stubble, but his face was still smooth and young.

“I’m thirty-one,” Aizawa laughed again, this laugh softer and more subdued. “I’m honored you thought I was the same age as you, though.”

“Wha- What?” This time it was Hizashi whose laughter bubbled over. “Well, good news for you, Aizawa-san, we are the same age.” Aizawa stared at him as if he couldn’t believe it, Hizashi trying to smother his laughter.

“You should make it more obvious.” For a gleeful second, Hizashi could pretend that the man was blushing. “And I thought I told you to stop with the honorifics.”

“Mm, alright, but only if you promise to do the same,” Hizashi said, his nerves disappearing in the wake of Aizawa’s smile before they got the chance to grow.

“I suppose we have known each other for a few months, now.” It was only Aizawa’s calm and relaxed pace that made Hizashi realize the other had been talking about the coffee shop and not the face they were arch enemies. It was hard to believe that Aizawa had known his civilian self for months and yet they had never talked beyond those short few minutes in the coffee shop every other morning. “Is this your complex up here?”

“Oh, uh, yeah.” Hizashi had never been overly embarrassed about the places he had lived in his life, but the fact that Aizawa was seeing his shithole of an apartment made him feel nervous and like he needed to explain himself. “It doesn’t exactly look the best, but it’s not all that bad. It’s just, you know…”

“It’s a place to live.” Aizawa had an expression that could almost be called soft, the man giving him the trace of a smile. “It reminds me of where I lived until I graduated U. A.”

“Oh.” Actually, now that he thought about it, Aizawa had mentioned something about growing up in a neighborhood like this one. “You lived somewhere like… here?”

Aizawa was silent a moment, looking to the ground and then back to the complex as he nodded, “I lived over on Block 27 in this area.”

For a moment, Hizashi’s mind was completely silent. That was enough to shock him, but what Aizawa said took precedence because what, “You’re shitting me. You- Block 27?”

“It’s a bit on the outskirts and no doubt my complex was torn down, but yes.” Aizawa looked over at him, raising his eyebrows. “Are you-”

“I lived three blocks away from there for almost four years when I was in my last few years of school. Are you kidding me? You were right there-” Hizashi’s anger was shot through with a spike of pain, Hizashi unable to do anything but gasp and clutch at his shoulder.

“Yamada!” Hands were catching him by his arms before the pain could knock him over, Hizashi unable to even appreciate the fact that it was Aizawa holding him as he tried to block out the pain. “What happened? Are you alright?”

“I-” Hizashi winced and grit his teeth and closed his eyes for a long moment. “I messed up my shoulder a few days ago and I haven’t taken anything for a while, is all.”

“Come on, let’s get you inside. Which door is yours?” Aizawa tugged him along even as Hizashi mumbled the door, hating himself for how weak he was when he honestly almost blacked out while walking up some steps.

He felt himself propped up against the wall, the cool concrete soaking through the back of his jacket and dragging out a small sigh of relief. He heard a mutter from Aizawa, but before he could question it, the man was patting at his cheek.

“Oi, stay awake, alright? I don’t want to pick your lock when that’d just fuck up your ability to use a key on it in the future. I’ll go around through the window and let you in as soon as I can, alright?”

Cracking his eyes open, Hizashi swallowed down a million words before settling on a quiet, “Sorry.”

“For what?” Aizawa frowned, looking as if he honestly didn’t know. The man was too nice for his own good, honestly.

“I’m a grown adult,” Hizashi muttered, gritting his teeth for a moment when the pain spiked again. “I should be able to take care of myself and not waste a pro’s time with this.”

“You’re not wasting my time, Yamada.” Aizawa stared at him as if he was holding back words of his own before turning away. “I’ll be right back.”

“Do you even know what window to look for?” Hizashi yelled, completely unsurprised when Aizawa vanished without an answer. Honestly, that man.

Leaning back against the wall, Hizashi tried to calm himself down and focus through the pain. He had been through a lot worse than a shot shoulder, but damn if it didn’t hurt when he was trying to take care of the wound on his own.

One of the EMT workers at the bank that night had been in possession of a minor healing quirk so Hizashi at least avoided a trip to the hospital, but it was still a nasty wound. It was also easily identifiable as a bullet wound - especially to a pro hero that was so keen on helping him out. Jeez, it wasn’t like their coffee was that good.

Pushing himself off the wall, he startled as his door swung open with an anticlimactic little swing, Hizashi letting out a quiet laugh, “Wow. That was pretty fast. Consider me impressed, Aizawa… Ah.” Hizashi blinked, staring at where Aizawa’s arms were full of a purring Snowball. Aizawa was absolutely beaming. “I see you found my cat.”

“I thought you would be the type to have a small cat.” Aizawa didn’t look willing to let Hizashi’s cat down anytime soon, but Hizashi supposed Snowball was a pretty great cat. This was also the most Hizashi had ever seen Aizawa smile, which was… equally wonderful and unnerving.

“He is small!” Or, well, he had been, at least, before Snowball’s sudden growth that still left Hizashi scratching his head some days. The cat was barely even a year old, after all, if that.

“Do I need to teach you the difference between small and massive?” Aizawa said, cocking an eyebrow with a hint of a smirk.

It took more effort than it should have to push down all the dirty jokes that sprung to mind. He was Hizashi right now, not Present Mic. And Hizashi needed to shuffle his way inside to at least get his shoes off, although he ended up staring at where Aizawa’s boots were already on the ground. It looked like he had taken them off after climbing through the window and somehow that, of all things, made Hizashi remember just how stupidly in love he was with this man.

“I’m not sure what breed he is, you know. I thought he could be a maine coon or a forest cat, maybe, that was thrown out by a breeder or something, but the structure is all wrong. You know, he does shed.”

“If I was worried about shedding fur, then I wouldn’t have my own cat,” Aizawa snorted, finally letting Snowball down and moving to help support Hizashi as he kicked his shoes off. Hizashi was trying not to laugh at seeing the black jumpsuit was already covered in fur - most likely the reason it took Hizashi a few moments to realize what Aizawa had said.

“You have a cat?” That… made sense, but it was also stupidly cute. He suspected Aizawa had a cat, at least, but it was nice to get that confirmation. “You know you have to tell me their name, now.”

“Only if you tell me his name,” Aizawa said, nodding down at Snowball. Hizashi was happily about to tell the man before he remembered with horrifying clarity that it was Present Mic to tell the man that he had a cat named Snowball. It was already dangerous enough just talking to him like he was, now.

“I, uh, maybe next time. Right now I should really get inside and check on my shoulder and everything.” Did Aizawa even suspect anything yet? Hizashi hadn’t realized how comfortable he was until just that moment, but if he slipped too much… it wouldn’t be too hard to connect Yamada Hizashi to Present Mic. Villains had already done it themselves, after all, with that Trigger dealer, and Hizashi knew that Aizawa could find out through the police station any time he really wanted to know.

Actually, now that he thought about it, why hadn’t he? Maybe the first few times could be explained away as not caring enough, but after all they had gone through, Aizawa had to have looked into it by now, right? Nothing had changed, though, between them - both as Present Mic and as Yamada Hizashi. Was he just not worth it, then? That had to have been it.

Hizashi wasn’t worth the effort and Aizawa had never bothered to try and figure out who he really was, because why bother with something that wasn’t even interesting. He had read all of this so wrong. To think he once thought there was a chance. No. There was no way-

“Yamada.” Jerking at the sharp tone, it was only Aizawa’s hands on his arms that kept him from jerking back and hurting himself. “Did you hear anything I just said?”

“Oh- Sorry, no, I’m- It’s been a pretty bad day. Sorry, I should let you get back to your patrol. Can’t leave these streets undefended, after all!”

“I was saying that you should at least let me help you look over your shoulder.” If it wasn’t for Snowball’s meows and purrs, there would have been absolute silence in the apartment.

“What? No- Why would you want to?” One sentence and Aizawa had managed to throw all of his fears and questions into doubt. “You’re a pro hero who’s supposed to be underground. I probably shouldn’t even know your name.”

“I doubt you’re about to run out in the streets and tell every villain there is my real name,” Aizawa laughed, moving to close the door that Hizashi had left open since he thought Aizawa had been about to leave. “Come on. You’re looking ready to pass out.”

“You don’t have to do this, you know,” Hizashi muttered, unable to bring himself to fight as Aizawa led him further into the apartment. “I’m not much a fan of pity.”

“Pity is the last thing I feel about you.” There was something in those words, but Hizashi was nowhere near the proper state of mind to try and figure it out. “Which door leads to your bathroom?”

“Second on the right,” Hizashi sighed, managing a small smile as Snowball led the way with loud, vibrating meows, Aizawa looking to be holding back laughter. “Sorry. He’s as loud as me, sometimes.”

They fell into a more comfortable silence this time around as Aizawa pulled and pushed Hizashi until he was sitting on the edge of the tub, a first aid kit opened beside him. Aizawa looked like he was hesitating before finally meeting his eyes, “Would you be okay if I helped you get your shirt and jacket off? If you want to keep the shirt on, I can try to work around it.”

“Oh.” That was… oddly sweet. It might be safer since Hizashi didn’t know what he would do with Aizawa’s hands on him, but, well, he was always a bit selfish. “Sure, just let me know if you need help or something, I guess.”

As Aizawa started to work, Hizashi clamped his mouth shut and tried to suppress any and all noises as Aizawa worked his jacket off first and then his shirt, slow and methodical with each movement. He was so caught up in staring, he almost missed the quiet, “Talk to me, Yamada.”

“Oh, man, I think you’re the first one to ever ask for me to talk. Most people are always trying to tell me to shut up.” There was no joke that maybe he should go back to being silent, Aizawa only calm and relaxed as he nodded like he wanted Hizashi to keep talking. “This is a distraction from the pain, isn’t it?”

“Yes.” At least he was honest. “Tell me something that’s been on your mind, tonight. Something that made this day such a bad one.”

“I mean, I already told you about the keys,” Hizashi said, scrambling for words and scrunching his eyes shut as Aizawa started working the shirt around his hurt shoulder. “Um, okay, the phone thing- I threw it away because it died right after I took on a coworker’s shift because of a bunch of reasons, so now I need to work morning and afternoon, tomorrow.”

“Do you normally pick up more shifts than you can handle?” Aizawa asked, Hizashi letting his silence speak for itself. “Thought so. You seem the type to cause yourself stress to save others from it.”

“Ah, how rude to assume things of someone you barely know,” Hizashi teased with a forced grin, Aizawa’s hands faltering against him before he was moving to prod at his shoulder. For the first few moments, Hizashi had to control himself from saying or doing anything stupid as he felt callused fingertips trailing against his skin and searing a path into him that he would likely never forget. It then took everything in him to not activate his quirk when Aizawa pressed against the edges of the wound because that would let Aizawa know who he was for certain.

“Sorry. It doesn’t look infected, but it doesn’t look all that good, either.” Aizawa seemed to know what he was doing and Hizashi didn’t bother to try and look. It had been bad enough when he had to change the bandages on his own the first time and had almost fainted. He wasn’t aware he had completely silenced himself, however, until Aizawa was patting at his side, startling him. “Talk to me, Yamada.”

“Oh, um- Right. My shifts- I don’t mind. She’s been through a lot, more than me, it feels like, so I don’t mind helping her. It’s our boss that’s the real jerk- I mean, you know those cat muffins we sell? What am I saying, of course you do, you always buy some.”

“They’re cute,” Aizawa said simply, Hizashi wanting nothing more than to coo over the man and tease him and maybe sneak in a kiss or two to the cheek and maybe- Ah, okay, right, pain was very good for focusing his thoughts. “What about the cat muffins?”

“I was kind of at fault for when we brought them back, right? Since I was the one to ask my boss about them, he decided that I should be the one to make them, so my usual morning shift got moved to where I have to come in an hour or two early. I mean, I’ve adjusted, by now, but it was awful when it started.”

“You… You make those muffins?” The small, soft tone of awe had Hizashi’s heart tripping into overtime, the look in Aizawa’s eyes making him hope for a second. The moment of hope was probably the cruelest joke of them yet. “Why would you go through all that? They can’t sell that well.”

“I…” It was because he had worried about his ‘enemy’ not eating in the mornings. He had seen this scruffy and tired man and worried because he knew how much work he put into everything he did. Aizawa had seemed sad about when they stopped and Hizashi had wanted to see him smile, or be given that small smirk of his, or even just look like he didn’t have so much weight on his shoulders. He wanted to thank the hero so badly, so he had done what little he could to try to help. “I guess I don’t really have a reason.” He had several.

Aizawa seemed to know there was more he wasn’t saying, but he finally shook his head, Hizashi shivering as he felt some sort of cream spread over the wound after Aizawa dabbed at it with some disinfectant. Aizawa’s voice felt more like a balm than the actual medicine, “You, Yamada, are something else entirely.”

“Guess I am,” Hizashi chuckled weakly, smile feeling a bit more real when Snowball, tired of being ignored, jumped onto the edge of the bathtub and shoved himself against Hizashi’s side. Aizawa looked like he was trying not to laugh, Hizashi giving one for him. “You know, I actually really like all his purring and meowing. It makes this place feel less quiet.”

“That’s one of the reasons I love my own cat,” Aizawa said quietly, digging through the first aid kit again. “She makes the room feel less empty.” Hizashi had been about to respond before he felt a bandage pressed against his wound - probably to keep it from bleeding considering his torn stitch. “Sorry. There’s nothing in here to really numb the area.”

“I have a bottle of wine somewhere,” Hizashi managed to wheeze, grinning a bit at Aizawa’s laugh. He must have started going silent again, because he felt Aizawa give him a little nudge as he started wrapping his shoulder up tightly.

“Talk to me.” Fuck, why was it that both as Mic and Yamada it was always Aizawa that wanted to hear him talk. Hizashi didn’t know how to deal with that and now it was coming at him from both sides of his life. “It can be about anything.”

The pain spiked for a moment and the words were tumbling out, “Fuck, okay, uh, it’s hard to believe that we used to live only a few blocks away when you were growing up? High school, right? That’s around the time I lived there- Fuck, we could have seen each other and never even known.”

“Almost done,” Aizawa said quietly before his tone picked up. “And we never met. I think I would remember someone with hair like yours.”

“Nah, I used to keep it really short,” Hizashi laughed, the sound pained more than anything. “I wonder what would have changed if we had met back then or more than just in passing, maybe. That would have been fifteen or sixteen years ago, right? Jeez, that’s half our lives. We could have known each other for half our lives if things had been different.”

“I don’t know… I think I like this version.” Aizawa sounded further away. Prying his eyes open, Hizashi saw the bright lights of his bathroom that were almost blinding since he wasn’t wearing his sunglasses, Aizawa sitting back with a small smile. “The torn stitch didn’t look good, but they’re all dissolvable, so you shouldn’t have to go to the hospital. This bandage should last a few days, too. By then you should be healed enough to be able to change them on your own.”

“My hero,” Hizashi laughed, taking a moment to try and relax as Aizawa put away the first aid kit as if he did this frequently. Considering the fact he was a pro, he probably did do things like this frequently.

When he focused back, he saw that Aizawa was holding out a glass of water and a couple of pain relievers. Hizashi took them gratefully, near draining the cup of water before he looked back up, trying not to let Snowball knock him into the floor where he was trying to get more attention again.

“I know I’ve said this before, but you’ve seriously saved me this time around.” There was a quiet laugh, Hizashi biting his lip for a moment as he remembered the conversation he and Aizawa had after the hero had recovered from that USJ attack. “The world could use more heroes like you.”

“Maybe.” Aizawa clicked his tongue, Snowball leaping into his arms in a heartbeat. The sight of the stern hero Eraserhead holding a loud, purring cat was enough to make Hizashi laugh up a storm. “What about you, Yamada?”

“What about me what?” Hizashi asked as soon as his breathing was under control, giggles still slipping out of him.

“Did you ever want to be a hero?” There was once a time where that question would have sent him into a panic, but this was Aizawa and he wasn’t Present Mic. Besides, it would be nice to be honest, for once.

“When I was younger,” Hizashi finally said, standing up slowly and carefully as he set his now empty glass down on the edge of the sink. “In our society, it’s all kids want to be when they grow up, after all.”

“What changed?” Aizawa didn’t look like he was paying much attention, but Hizashi knew how sharp and clever this man was. If he let slip even one clue that he was Present Mic, Aizawa would connect the pieces together in no time at all.

“I… think it was a lot of little things, honestly.” He didn’t want to lie, but there was no harm in being careful. “I started thinking differently not long after middle school. That’s when everything really changed.”

“It’s a shame we never met.” The man’s voice was soft as he let Snowball back down, and when he looked back up, his gaze was even softer. “I think we would have been decent friends.”

“Oh, hero…” His only saving grace was that for once he spoke the silly nickname in Japanese instead of English. “You give people too much credit.”

“I think you give yourself too little credit.” Aizawa stared at him and Hizashi watched as his smile turned into something he could only call beautiful. “I have a feeling that you would be an amazing hero, Yamada.”

Jeez… Aizawa Shouta was far too much of a hero.

It had taken almost another hour, but soon Hizashi had been tucked away in bed with his door safely locked, Aizawa back out on patrol while Hizashi set huddled up in blankets with a cat purring on his stomach.

“Block 27…” With his hearing aids out, Hizashi could only rely on his thoughts to really know what he had said. He usually thought over everything silently at night, but these thoughts felt too big for silence. “Friends, huh?”

Eraserhead was a hero that was better than them all. Not only had he stopped to help a civilian he didn’t even really know, but he had stayed with Hizashi long enough to even help him with his shoulder - and he hadn’t even asked what had happened to him.

Hizashi wondered what would be different if they had met when they had been going to high school or even junior high. If they had met, would Aizawa somehow have managed to convince him that he could be a hero? Would Hizashi have tried for U. A.?

There was no way to know, but Hizashi indulged for just a moment in the idea of being childhood best friends. He thought about the two of them meeting, both deathly silent until Aizawa managed to coax words out of him like he had in the bathroom.

They could have gone to U. A. together. There could have been a day where Hizashi would grow to love Aizawa as much as he did now, but in that version he would have called the man Shouta and would have been less scared to share his feelings. Hell, maybe they would have been heroes, together, too. Above all, there was a chance that they could have been friends from the very start.

It was a nice little dream, but then Hizashi remembered their long nights of chasing each other and fighting in the streets, sharp words flying just as quick as fists and weapons. Their relationship here, if it could be called that, was fast and unsteady and went from fighting with all they had to Aizawa sitting with him silently on a rooftop in peace.

It was mad, and crazy, and it shouldn’t make sense no matter how he looked at it, but Hizashi agreed with one thing Aizawa had said that night.

No matter how bad his life was at times or how confusing it all got to be, Hizashi could honestly say that he liked this version of it all. It made him more appreciative of all the good that was in his life - like tonight.

He was tucked away in bed surrounded by covers and a large cat, his shoulder had been carefully cleaned and bandaged, and he had managed a conversation with Aizawa that was just that. A conversation with Aizawa as himself. Sure the rest of his life was a wreck that was slowly unraveling, but with nights like these…

With nights like these, where Aizawa smiled at him and told him that he would be an amazing hero, well.

Hizashi almost believed it.

#bnha #boku no hero academia #mha #my hero academia #erasermic #villain!mic #corndog-patrol #villainous heroics

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